New Grounds
by Atheniandream
Summary: Summary: What if Donna had never re-enforced the Rule 10 years ago? Three years after leaving Manhattan, Donna is forced to immerse herself in the world she thought she'd left behind long ago. (All Cast Involved, AU Timeline) **CHAPTER NINE UPDATE: 25/01/15**
1. Chapter 1

Summary: What if Donna had never re-enforced the Rule 10 years ago? Five years after leaving Manhattan, Donna is forced to immerse herself in the world she thought she'd left behind.

Future-Fic AU.

Notes: Many thanks to xxlovely and Purple Cadet, whose amazing fic got me back in the game. This is a fic I wrote over a year ago. I'm trying it out.

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><p><span><strong>New Grounds<strong> By Atheniandream

Chapter One

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><p>"Mom. Where are we?" A little girl asks, staring oddly at the brick wall of the tall building in front of them.<p>

The girl's mother sighs, drawing in a long breath as she stares up at the towering apartment block.

_It's unremarkable in its finality_, the woman thinks. After all this time, Practically unchanged, a vaguely 'aged brick' look to it but not particularly different from the last time she stalked between it's walls and fled out of it's doors into a future. _A future now paved with misadventures..._

"Well…we are at the apartment that I used to lease when I lived here in the city. I lived here for eight years." She explains, looking down at the little girl.

"Wow. That's older than me…" The child replies, wide eyed.

"It sure is." Her mother smiles, a warmth behind her eyes at her daughters matter-of-factness. "Did you have our name back then? Or Dad's?"

"Mine, of course. I _was_ the famous 'Donna Paulsen' back then. You don't give that up easy." She says to the girl, watching as her daughter weighs up the meaning of her answer.

"Can we go inside?" The little girl asks fervently.

"Sorry sweetie… someone's renting it now. But it's…a cool neighbourhood, honey; don't you think?" Donna presses, noticing her daughter's silence. "Cassie?"

"Hmm-hmm." The Cassie replies; pushing her strawberry-blonde hair out of her face as her green eyes roam up and down the road. "Did you and Dad live here?"

"No, sweetie. Your Dad and I lived Uptown; where he lives now."

"Are we gonna live around here again?"

"Maybe…we're gonna go visit a very old friend of my mine, first." She assures her daughter.

"Is it Uncle Mike?" Cassie asks.

"Of course; you've met Uncle Mike…and Aunt Rachel?" She remembers. Too far out of the loop these days to keep track of how much Cassie has been enveloped into her old world.

"I love Rachel;" Cassie exclaims. "She has the prettiest hair. And like...a closet full of shoes." Cassie remarks, pulling on her dress.

"She does. Have you been to their house before?"

"Only once. Dad took me." She shrugs.

"Well…then this will make it twice." She remarks, taking her daughters hand.

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><p>The cab ride is familiar; past old haunts and favourite stores that still remain in the fast changing metropolis. She gets vague ghosts of memories passed vendors and coffee houses and the odd theatre that passes by. It's unnerving to be back; like the city wasn't as big as she remembered; everything too vividly familiar of every part of her time here. She hadn't visited in nearly three years. Things were bound to have changed; the city waits for no one…<p>

"Mom." Cassie pipes up.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Are we gonna go to see Dad today?" She asks with wide, interested eyes that speak just as much of her father as they do of her.

A lump rises in Donna's throat at her mentioning him, as she steadies her reaction in front of a very smart girl. Too smart, by traditional standards.

"Maybe… I can drop you off after if you want?" She offers, shelving the subtext in her voice to look down at her daughter.

_You're making a choice_, She thinks to herself. _The first step will always be the hardest but in the long run the best_, She chants silently in her head.

"You can come too?" Her daughter offers brightly.

"No, I'm good. I'll drop you though? Your Dad will want to spend some time with you alone, I think." She placates, smiling.

"He's probably working," She says matter-of-factly, a thought painting her face as she stares momentarily out the window.

"Probably. He may stop when you get there though?" She encourages.

_She can only fear just how little a focus her Father has put upon her during those infrequent visits Cassie made to the city…_

"Hmm…" The little girl replies, her hand finding her hair.

They stop outside a tall apartment building; a classic white period apartment block with large french windows. On the call sheet it reads 'Ross & Rachel'. It makes her laugh immediately, a quiet homage to her joking of their name combination when the two first got together and a television show showcasing a couple to trump even their tenuous relationship history. It was a strange miracle that they were still together. She should have known that they were always meant to be. And how she hadn't been the one to call it…

She presses the button on the intercom, hearing it ring out into the neighbourhood.

"Hello?" A man's voice asks. It's all too familiar.

She whispers to her daughter. "Honey, you want call it?"

"Uncle Mike it's me and Mom!" Cassie blurts into the receiver, stretching on her tiptoes to reach the console.

"Oh my God!" Is the only muffled response they hear as the door buzzes open, waiting for them to enter.

Rachel is already down the hall by the time they get to the right floor.

"Oh my god it's you! Donna!" She calls, running to her friend, who wraps her in a huge hug.

"And you, my little Princess Cassie; how ya been! Come here!" She says, folding her between their collective arms.

She gives Rachel a look, before she notices her friend, as he slowly walks up behind Rachel, his arms collecting on her shoulders.

"Mike," Donna says carefully, eyeing him with a look that doesn't need words between them.

He smiles, knowing and warm. "Hey Donna. Long time…It's good to see you." He says, moving around Rachel and leaning in enough to pull her into a hug and place a warm kiss on her cheek.

"You too. It has been a while." She says, shrugging with a slight nervousness that has become part of her physicality these days.

"It's been _too_ long." He says pointedly. She can't ignore the sad smile behind his wiser looking eyes.

She shrugs the sentiment off with a sudden flash of her old self. "So… how are you guys?" She says as the couple lead them both into their apartment.

Donna pauses, looking around.

It screams Rachel all over. The textures, the decor. The Rugs.

Occasionally she'll spy little sprinklings of Mike; cufflinks on the coffee table and the Panda photo that **_Harv_**- The acknowledgement of his name stops her dead. It's only then when she zones back into the room that Rachel is waiting on the knife edge of excitement.

"Well… we have news." Rachel says, all but popping.

"I know. You said on the phone. Out with it already or you'll burst!" Donna remarks, humouring her friend.

"Well...after much trepidation and tense waiting. The Doctor's finally confirmed that we...are…pregnant!" Rachel says finally, all but lifting off of the ground.

"Oh my god….Congratulations! I'm suddenly so sad that you can't have a drink with me but yay!" She says, pulling her friends into a hug.

"Mom loves the Mojitos." Cassie exclaims, _reminding everyone a little too much of her poignant lineage…_

"Cassie, you can't tell people that;" Donna fake scolds her daughter. "They're gonna think Mommy's a closet Alcoholic." She laughs nervously. Both Rachel and Mike hold a laugh back as she looks towards the bright little girl.

"Oops. Oh well. I'm gonna go," Cassie says, rolling her eyes and wandering off into the rest of the house; Rachel quietly following after the little girl as Mike chuckles in the background.

"Yeah." Donna sighs; as both her and Mike remain.

"She's developing a nice blend of your wit and Harvey's sarcasm, I see?" Says Mike, smirking at the sarcasm. _She's like a little her, and it's scaring her more and more every day._

"Yeah, that's never gonna change, is it? Speaking of...how is the…_firm_?" She makes sure to tread delicately over the generalisation that will forever be mentioning Harvey.

"Well. I'm going to have to show you. You may even be excited." He says, his expression holding his own little secret.

"What? Why?" She asks, her features lighting up with possibility.

It had been so long since she had her finger on the pulse. When she had first left the firm, she'd had so much to deal with; with Cassie and Harvey and a whole new side to her life, she never had a minute to miss anything. But things had changed; her life had changed. There was time to miss the little things now.

"No guessing; I'll take you later." He promises, as they both drift into silence, looking on to Rachel and Cassie talking in the lounge nearby; Cassie waving her arms animatedly at a smiling Rachel.

"Hey, Cassie. You wanna go see Dad at work later?" Mike calls.

She looks over to her daughter, who's eyes light up almost immediately. _She pretends that it doesn't cause her the anguish it does._

"Yeah! Mom said she'd take me." Cassie nods, looking casually between the two of them.

"Well, I have to be in the office later, we can all go together?" Mike offers then, turning his attention back to Donna.

"Oh, no, Mike, that's fine." She takes a step back, her voice backtracking to match. "Take Cassie though. I have some plans..." She says, suddenly feeling the desperate need to stall.

"Donna, I insist. _Trust me_, you're gonna love it." He says, his hand landing on her shoulder as an attempt at comfort.

"I…uh," She stumbles, trying to find the right angle to relieve herself of the proposition. But by the look on Mike's face, he can still read her like a book. She isn't getting out of it for any money in the world…

"You won't even have to see him, Donna." He assures her.

"See who?" She offers deftly. He shakes his head at her. Clearly she's lost her touch…

"See Who? At Dad's work?" Says a voice behind them. The kid is a constant creeper.

"Rach, can you show Cassie around the apartment? Show her your shoes, she's been trying to snag my Manolos for weeks now." Donna calls to Rachel, nudging Cassie forward.

"Uh, of course!" Rachel says, sensing the look on her face. "Come on, Cass, you can tell me what you think of the baby's room, too. I'm not so sure about the colour..." She says, leading the girl off into the apartment.

"Cool," Cassie says; eyeing her Mother till the very edge of the doorway.

She draws a breath before looking back to a waiting Mike.

"Mike. I don't know if I want to see him. It's kind of been three years." She says under a hushed tone.

"What; aren't you the least bit curious?" He asks; confusion painting his face.

"About my ex-husband? Not in the slightest." She quips, giving him a look. His objection doesn't last long, the remembrance of the great Harvey Specter leaving no room for ambiguity.

"Well then…come for me," He offers. "And for Louis. He'll be sad if doesn't get to see you. You know how pathetic he can be." He jokes.

She huffs, looking about the apartment as her decision making skills tackle the crossroads of the matter.

"Uhh…you're right." She winces. "You are a very persuasive man, Michael Ross." She smiles, play-punching his arm.

"I had some good teachers." He smirks back.

"I_ have_ missed you." She admits, smiling.

"Missed you too." He says, taking her hand to give it a quick squeeze. The moment is open and quick between them, before their usual camaraderie sets in.

"You said to Rachel on the phone that you are…moving back? Is it true?"

"Yeah. I uh… I think it's good for Cassie to see her Dad. She doesn't get to that much, and this way, with her enrolled in a better School, maybe with being around her Dad more she might be able to concentrate a little better. The doctors said that she needs a healthier home environment, more stable, more regular for her to feel secure about where she is."

"How is that working out?"

"Her attention is getting better. But it takes time. To tell you the truth it would be nice for Harvey to… make some effort, occasionally." She says; trying not to lace the words with natural accusation. It was getting harder these days…

"You know...I think he misses her. He talks about her occasionally, which you and I both know means,"

"That he thinks about her a lot. Yeah. I figured it was about time that I gave in a little on this. Only a little though," She emphasises, hiding her wicked smile.

"Just a smidge." He offers.

"Just a smidge." She confirms, her smile levelling. "So…baby. Little Baby Ross, huh?"

"I know. Where have the years gone?" He says frankly, looking around himself.

"I don't know. You've done well… for a guy without a law degree." She jibes, smiling once more.

They both notice that she omits her usual nickname of 'Fraud Man', that he's come to expect to come out of her mouth.

"Yeah. Well, I have you to thank for that." He says.

She looks at him, confused for a moment. She had assumed that Harvey was the main reason for his successes. "How so?"

"If you hadn't have taken a chance on me, liked whatever part of my plea to evade the cops and let me speak to Harvey; he would never have offered me the job. You opened the door, for him to let me in."

"And I never ever regretted it." She smiled, tapping his cheek.

"Not even a…"

"Okay, sometimes." She says, covering her smile with a fake frown.

"We should go. You ready?" He asks, seeing her posture stiffen.

She takes a moment to relax into the swagger of her old days, before throwing a "When am I not?" Over her shoulder.

_It was time to meet the Dragon head-on._

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><p>She looks down to see her daughter smiling at her as they ride the elevator half-flanked by Mike. Everything would be fine if it weren't for the complete saturation of dread in her stomach. She's sure he'll be out, probably at lunch, or in a meeting, and with any luck she can see Louis, see what Mike's come to show her and then leave Cassie for a few hours and wash away any of the questions that come up with a stiff drink in an old haunt. She looks over at Mike, to see a contained excitement in his features as he looks over at her.<p>

When she steps out into the Lobby; it's immediately obvious that they've redecorated.

"Wow Mike, it looks good here. Nice scheme." She remarks, and impressed look on her face.

"No. Turn around…" He says, touching her shoulder.

She slowly turns around to the signage to read:

**_'Specter Ross & Litt'_**

"Oh my god, MIKE! That's…incredible." She gawks, in awe. "Not bad for a fake lawyer." She whispers devilishly, aware of the people lingering.

"Donna…" He warns, laughing nervously.

"What?" Her daughter chimes.

"It's a joke, Cassie. But please don't ever repeat what I just said to anyone; including your father."

"Why not?" Cassie asks. When she looks down to meet her daughter's gaze it's like looking at Harvey again; all shrewd intellect and none of the rebuttal.

"Because I said so." She warns.

"Okay…" Her daughter huffs, looking away.

"Pinky swear?" Donna asks, a glimmer of her mothering tone. "Cassie?"

"Pinky swear." Cassie agrees, stubbornly folding her arms.

"Thank you." She smiles.

"Hey, Cassie you know where your Dad is, right?" Mike chimes in, full of too much enthusiasm for a guy who's not a kid any more.

"Of course. He has the biggest office. Do you have a new office, Uncle Mike?"

"Right next to your Dad's. Go take a peak. My name will be on the door."

"You okay?" He asks Donna as they both watch the little girl amble down the hall.

"Yeah I'm good." She says, taking in the silver lettering. "Mike... Grammy and your parents would be… very proud of you."

"Of my hustle?"

"Of your achievements." She corrects.

"Thanks. It's weird to think I ever questioned it. It's like it's all an urban legend now.

"Does Louis like being on the bottom?" She asks, smirking.

"Well, he was okay, when we told him that people always consider the '&' the cherry of the name. Like 'Also starring' or 'With' in the movie titles. Like an accolade,"

"Uh._ Film analogy_. Good call. Did he buy it?"

"Of course." Mike scoffs, his hands finding his pockets. "I am top a lawyer after all." He replies smugly.

She hears ringing and looks down to pick up his cellphone. "Excuse me one sec?" He asks.

"Sure." She smiles, watching with a motherly pride as Mike talks animatedly down the phone, no doubt on the business of the day.

She continues to walk casually down the hall and within minutes, things start to flood back to her; the years upon years' worth of history just stacked up in every office; every cubicle, the bathrooms, the lobby, the…

_Cubicle._

She stops dead when she sees the cubicle; just as she'd left it years ago. Except with a bouncy Blonde sat in her seat. There's something rough edged coming up like razor bile in her throat. The girl is young, bubbly and he's probably fucking her. Since their divorce he went back to dating the most beautiful and the most stupid women in Manhattan, just as she would expect. And this one clearly fits the ticket…

She spies him in his office, Cassie sitting on the edge of his desk; probably showing her a picture of the new dog her grandmother had bought her on her phone. He's a little greyer now, just on the sides, but it only makes him more distinguished in a George Clooney kind of way. She immediately hates the reference, vowing to never watch ER re-runs ever again, and turns her attention back to him. His suit is the same, the same charcoal and silvery blues peeking out. It angers her a little that he's managed to keep his looks over the years and she's settled for being a middle aged woman now. She notices his tie is off but doesn't bother thinking deeper than that.

**_It is not her job anymore…_**

"Can I help you?"

She doesn't realize until the girl looks up that she's managed to walk to up to the cubicle.

"And who are you?" Donna says, her words icing immediately.

"I'm…Harvey Specter's assistant?" The young woman offers, confused by the question.

_Well of course she's confused, she's probably not even gotten her SAT results yet…_

"Of course you are." She bites the urge to tell the young woman that she's sitting in **_her_** chair. She can't help it; there's miles of history spanning the building, right to the chair that looks like it hasn't changed in nine years.

"I'm just going to…" Donna says, starting to walk around the cubicle.

"Um, I'm afraid that he's just talking to someone right now."

"My daughter?" She points out; eyeing up the young woman.

"Sorry?" The woman says, frowning.

"I'm his ex-wife. And that's my daughter." She points vaguely to his desk. She doesn't even have to look up to know where it is, he hasn't moved the damn thing in over eight years…just upgraded his surroundings.

"Oh." The girl says, her pout lost on her vacant looking face.

Harvey must have spied her glaring at his assistant, as he starts to get up when she walks in.

For a moment they both stand; motionless, like they're in some old black and white 'Wild West' film. Cassie sits down in her Dads chair, turning it from side to side, and trying to read the paperwork laid out on the desk with her palms face down against the mass of white.

"Donna…" He says her name carefully, not treading too long on any vowel in particular.

"Cassie; do you want to go bug Uncle Mike for five minutes. I just need to…speak to your Dad alone for a sec?" She looks to Cassie, who acts like she's been caught for touching her Dad's things and jumps out of the chair.

"Sure Mom. Dad, can I take this pen? '_Mont… Blanc_'?" She asks, reading the side of the shiny black pen with interest.

"Sure honey. I'll just uh…use a…_biro_…" He says, irony in his voice as the end of the sentence falls flat. "Don't lose it; it's expensive." He reminders her, his eyes still looking at the memorable Redhead in the room.

"Thanks; I won't." She says vacantly, wandering off in the direction of Mike's office.

"**_She will_**." Donna points out, nodding.

"**_I know_**." Harvey agrees tiredly, the tiniest of a shuffle in his feet. "So..."

It makes her immediately uncomfortable; her head analysing everything about the man in front of her. "Could you…turn off the intercom? I don't want Miss America listening in."

"Donna," He says, looking at her with the edges of a warning.

"What?" She shrugs. "She's looks…younger than Cassie. Does she even have a Diploma?" She asks, her hip popping out the way it does when she knows she's onto a verbal winner.

"She's very good at her job." Harvey argues; his words still careful, but his eyes solid.

"Which _job_ is that exactly?" She accuses, the words stinging with intent.

"Donna... please let's not-"

"We're not. **_I'm_ **not," She shrugs sharply, feigning obvious commitment of the matter.

"It's not…on constantly, okay?" He suddenly says, the volume in his voice rising.

She stops dead in her verbal tracks. "No?" She questions.

"No." He says, shaking his head. "That was just a 'you'… an 'us' thing."

"Right." She looks down, her teeth gritting slightly. It's the reason she didn't want to see him in the first place without coming from a place of strength. She felt suddenly feeble in a palace that used to be theirs. Old wounds... "So… the name?" She questions, changing the subject.

"Yeah. It looks good doesn't it? The kid's earned it." He half smiles.

"He's not…such a…kid anymore." She reminds him, the hint of a smile lighting her own features.

"No, he's not…most of the time." He remarks cooly.

"We've _all_ grown up." She wants to say 'some of us'. She's pretty sure that he's stayed the same. She's not sure how she feels about that, if it's even a bad thing.

He watches the cogs turning in her head; and walks back around to sit at his desk.

"So…what brings you to Manhattan? It's nice to see Cassie, _but_,"

She bites back the **_'But seeing you is…'_** that she feels on his expression.

"You could see her more," She points out; barely holding back the accusations this time.

"Donna, you know I can't… with my schedule, and the time," He says, his nostrils flaring to keep himself level.

"**We're moving back**, Harvey." She says.

"What?" He stops his pen from hitting the paper, looking up at her, surprise painting his face as much as he'll let it.

"We're moving back to Manhattan. Cassie and_ I_." She clarifies, straightening in her oldest pair of five hundred dollar heels she has left.

He takes a minute - like he always does - analysing the information.

"Oh…that's...good. That's…great." He nods, leaning back.

"Cassie needs you, Harvey. The Doctor's say she's needs a more stable home life with the problems that she's had…so…**I'm here**." She explains reluctantly.

_There's nothing great in having to tell your ex husband that you're doing a shitty job of raising his child alone…_

"Of course. You know I never wanted you to move back there in the first pla-"

"Well I needed…_my family_," She interrupts. "So. Listen, you mind if I leave Cassie here for a few hours?"

"Sure, she's fine. Where are you…."

"Really?" She snaps back, her eyes narrowing with the reserve of venom left in her arsenal.

"Fine." He answers, waving off the rest of his words. "Whatever."

"Good. Well I...I better go find Louis." She says, taking a step back.

"Sure. Hey...Donna…?" He catches her, as she finds his face. "You look…good." He says simply.

But there's something in his face that riles her. It's that arrogant grin she'd spent six years trying to wipe off of his face. She swallows it along with the temptation to blush.

"You too. Really working that silver fox look." She says, a little too dryly.

"I thought you'd like it. If I remember rightly, that's what made you go for that lawyer in the-"

She holds a hand up._ She knows where this is going_. "Can we not?"

"Sure." He says, swallowing the urge that she can see all over his face. "Donna?" He calls once more.

She makes to turn on her heel, looking back at him.

"You do look… really good." He repeats, seeming more sincere this time.

"Don't even." She warns, shaking her head. "This about our child, Harvey." She calls behind her, looking back only for a second to reaffirm her point. "I'll pick her up later."

"I'll have Ray drop her off." He calls to her retreating form.

"Don't you DARE." She fires back, her voice flying through the corridor at him as she whips back around.

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><p>She knocks when she reaches his office. It feels odd to knock but somehow she feels like there is uneven ground.<p>

_Louis. No longer the Underdog. Now an equal. Time really has passed…_

"If my eyes do not deceive me… Donna Paulsen." He says immediately, as if word has already gone around the building in spades.

"Louis." She eyes him knowingly; her intense devilish streak peeking out for a second, before grinning widely at him. He immediately darts across the room grabbing her for an intense hug. It feels odd, this Louis.

"Don't wrinkle me, Louis. I'm wearing Chanel." She says, crinkling her nose and straightening out of his eager arms.

"Sorry, I just. Well, it's like the room has filled with flowers. You look beautiful. And Cassie… _well_. She is a darling girl. A perfect blend of you and dare I say it, Harvey, if that were even possible." He says, gushing in his way, a little giggle erupting out of him.

"Yeah, she's great. I hear she's been terrorising you?" She smiles.

"On her Father's orders. I swear to god if I ever have kids, they're going to hunt him down like wild cats to a wounded deer on the,"

She stands, wide eyed, until he realises that he's let himself runaway again. "Enough of Harvey. This firm hasn't been the same without you here; you're still a legend amongst these halls. Cassie's a good reminder of that fact, red hair wandering from office to office with that swagger of yours,"

"I don't know. It's looking pretty good here from where I'm standing. She is great though." She smiles.

"So," He says, perching on his desk. "What brings you to this lonely island, malady?" He asks lavishly.

"I'm… here to stay, actually. Cassie needs her father. And I need Saks 5th Avenue." She smiles wryly.

"Really. _For good_?"

"For now. For a while." She nods conservatively.

"Where are you thinking? If you like I could take the rest of the day and help you look for apartments; get Norma on the lookout. She'd probably do the work if she knew it was for you, that cranky old bitch hasn't said a word to me in two weeks, I swear I don't even know why I pay her, if I could just get payroll to stop her checks and security to stopping letting her-."

"Norma's still here? Oh my god! Where is the old bag?" She asks, her face finally lighting up as she looks about the place.

"Having her… corns removed." Louis cringes. "Newer Lows."

They both share a look. It's not pretty.

"Lovely. Well, give her my best. No doubt I'll have to come back here. But, I have a few things to do today. Rain check on the apartment scout?"

"I should hope so. And…I expect a regular visit… unless…" He pauses for a second, unreadable.

"What, Louis.?" She presses

"Are you going to come back to the firm?" He asks.

_Out of everyone, it would always be Louis to ask that question first. She should have known..._

"Oh, I don't…" She stumbles, unsure of her answer. "I don't think that would be a good idea, Louis."

"You wouldn't have to work for Harvey. He has his…" Louis's words tail off in a vague gesture, that he rethinks half way through.

"Girlfriend?" She offers.

"How did you...?"

"I'm Donna, I know. Plus, she reeks of Harvey's favourite cologne." She cringes once more. "And she's stupid enough to bend to his will."

His face immediately lights up. She should have expected it…

"You could always…work for me?" He offers, the words gold and hope filled as they fly out of his mouth.

"Louis… you're a sweetheart. But, I'm not sure Harvey and I working under the same roof, as big as it is would be the best idea right now ."

"Too familiar?" He offers.

"I'd tear the roof off and throw it at him."

He laughs, folding his hands. "Well, if you change your mind…"

"I wouldn't want to take Norma's position away from her. But thank you Louis. I really do appreciate it."

"Anything for you. Hey and what with your previous working reputation I'm sure firms would be lining up to take you."

"Yeah. A few. We'll see." She shrugs, looking out to the city skyline she knows off by heart. She takes a step towards Louis, slow and deliberate. "I need to go, Louis," She says, looking at him, and presses a kiss to his cheek. "But it's...nice to see you."

"Lunch soon?" He offers.

"Lunch soon." She promises, lingering for a second on the door frame, before sliding back down the hall.

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><p>Okay. Good a lot of this written I think so HOPEFULLY BE OUT SOON. As always, feed the kitty! xXx<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to everyone who's fed so far!

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

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><p><em>If Harvey Specter had one last nerve? It was currently being wasted on his Partner...<em>

"For the last time Mike..._**No**_." Harvey fires, his fists pressing into his glass cube of a desk.

"Harvey. _For one second_ just remove your personal opinion on the matter and tell me that she's not the best person to do the job?" Mike pleads, pacing the room as his arms gesture sharply at his older counterpart.

"Mike. **She's my Ex Wife**." He says, gritting his teeth as his eyes flicker to his assistant, half guarding his office.

"And before that… she was _just Donna_. _Your Assistant_. Then the mother of your child. Then _your wife_."

He watches as Mike takes in his expression, backing off somewhat. "Look, Harvey. I understand your reservations," Mike says.

"I don't give a shit if you understand them or not!" He fires back. "I'm not having my ex-wife work at this firm." He says, the pressure blanching out of this face as he struggles to keep his tone within the glass menagerie of an office.

"Why not?" Mike asks, sighing heavily.

"You really need an answer to that?" He winces, shaking his head out towards the beautiful ice blue skyline.

"What if I hire her anyway?" Mike offers.

It's a the delivery of silver wrapping round a bullshit sandwich, and Harvey's having none of it.

"Try it. She wouldn't even want to come back." He shrugs off the idea.

_But the fact that Mike is pushing this is starting to bore a nugget of suspicion into his head. Like a dog with a god damned bone...  
><em>

"Not according to Louis." Mike counters.

"Louis? _He's_ your valuable source? You think because your name is on the wall, it doesn't mean you can get sloppy in an argument."

_It's a low blow. But he's out of a defense at this point. _

"I agree with him." Mike chimes, piquing his the ends of his nerve immediately.

Mike's not stupid. Harvey's eyes, dark and unyielding spell 'threat' a mile off. "You really want to make this into an 'us' problem? Off the back of Louis?" Harvey says, his back up.

Mike sighs, taking a seat. "I'm not trying to make it into anyone's problem, Harvey. _Look_, just imagine this for a second. She goes to Stafford and Kline. Or Zane's firm? Or Cobalt and Hoffer. And maybe when she's there she develops a great working relationship with the managing partners there. Gets invested. Finds a place for herself. Starts to work her magic?"

"Secrets?"

"She sure as hell has enough of yours. Mine too. You want to trust that she won't use them against you...us... if her job is at stake? She's a middle aged woman coming back to a big city at a certain level. It's tough out there. You know it is."

"You realize that you're supposed to be on her side, right?" He says, stalking to the window for comfort.

"Which is exactly why I'm saying this. She's back, and she needs a job to support her and Cassie. I want to help. _**You should too**_."

"Mike," He pushes the words out against the heavy feeling in his chest.

"_Just_...think about it. She could be more use to us than you think. And if she works with me she doesn't have to deal with you." He snorts.

"She wouldn't agree to it." Harvey says, playing a poker face.

"She wouldn't or you wouldn't?"

"Watch it, Mike." Harvey all but growls.

"Let's just see shall we? I've been out of the bullpen a hell of a long time, Harvey. I'm persuasive."

"Yeah. Let's see if you screw up on this yet before you start making sensation-less claims." He drawls, gesturing for Mike to leave.

"My name's still on the wall!" Mike argues, opening the door.

"Names go up and down all the time…" He throws back at him.

"Well, now that was just mean!" Mike calls back.

* * *

><p>It takes Donna exactly one day to find an apartment; a modest two-bed close to her old neighborhood, of which she moves her and Cassie into immediately as it's already empty.<p>

She's lucky she has the busy two days of moving things to stop Harvey from possibly getting anywhere near Cassie during that time. She needs the time now to make a base; somewhere at least with the protection of the four walls where she can plan the build of her and Cassie's life from.

It's small. _But it's a start._

"Mom, what is this?" Cassie asks, holding up a rather lacy piece of black lingerie.

Donna swipes the garment from her daughter, throwing it back into the box and trying to play down the wide eyed look. "_That _is something that you won't be wearing for a long while yet."

"But it looks _my_ size...right?" Her daughter asks, not a shred off of innocence as she peers into the box at the offending garment.

"Oh sweetie. You have _so much_ time before you need to know about this." She remarks, half distracted as the doorbell rings out from the Hall. "Can you take those boxes into your room for me?" She points, before moving to answer the door.

"Sure," Cassie replies, wandering out of the kitchen.

She's at a loss as to who it could be other than Rachel; being the only one who knows her new address thus far…

She pulls the door open to reveal a sheepish looking Micheal Ross. "Hey...Mike? You skipping school today?" She quips, smiling ruefully at his presence.

"What can I say? The Principles' a real jerk." He jokes, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek as he follows her down the hall.

"You're telling me?" She calls behind her.

Mike stops when they reach the kitchen, looking around at the empty country style worktops and table. "This place is great. I can't believe it only took you a day to find." He remarks, gawping about the place.

Donna swings around, all edge and purpose about her. "Need I say it?"

He smirks, shaking his head. "You're Donna. I should have known." He says, his smile growing. "Where's Cassie?"

"Probably in her room, immersing herself in what little boxes we have."

"Of course."

"Not that it's not lovely to see you Mike...but what are you doing here?"

"Cut to the chase?" He offers, drawing in a breath "Okay. I came here to...offer you a job."

"At the firm?" She frowns, collecting the information. "Mike," she sighs, tapping her knuckles on the counter-top. "I'm not Harvey's assistant anymore." She winces/

"I don't want to you come work for Harvey. I want you to come work for _me_." He clarifies, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his five thousand dollar suit.

"Mike…"

"Look. My assistant is going on maternity leave as of...an hour ago. I need the cover. I don't want to train anybody and you need a job to support Cassie. I can offer you above what Harvey paid you before, matching well above the average in the city nowadays and any days off you need for Cassie? Done."

"Mike," She splutters, collecting herself. "That's an amazing offer, but I...I don't think I can work around Harvey. I don't think he'd appreciate me working around him twenty-four seven either."

"I cleared it with him." He tries to assure her. "He's fine about it. _Look_...don't make me beg. You know I will." He insists with a wry smile.

He's right. He _would_ beg. And it wouldn't be pretty. She's seen it before.

Fact is, she doesn't believe for a second that Harvey would be okay with this. The more likely option is that Mike, being the constant darling that he is, is merely throwing her a bone and strong-arming Harvey all in one fail swoop. And as nice a gesture she's not sure that she can handle not blowing off at Harvey every chance she can.

"Can I..._think about it_? I have some meetings with some firms in the city." She lies. She's had no traction whatsoever since she got back, even with her old contacts. _Turns out that three years has been three years too long out of the business. Apparently middle aged women can't do their jobs once they've been out of the game longer than six months._

After all, she is supposed to be here to make foundations, _not break foundations_...

"Sure, Donna." He says, pushing off of the counter. "I have to get back to the office, now. Let's say...if you're in, come in Monday and we'll sort everything out?"

"Okay." She nods, making to follow him back down the hall until he stops her.

"I'll find my way out. Have a good day...I'll make sure Rachel has time to stop by." He winks, before turning.

"Oh, you're such a good husband." She smiles at his retreating form.

"Practice." He reminds her, giving her a stiff salute. "Just Practice. And screwing up a lot."

She knows it has to do with more than that. _That kid was born marriage material._..

When the door lock catches, she slumps against the breakfast stool, immediately tired.

_**She has some...thinking to do now… **_

_**Some serious thinking.**_

* * *

><p>The days had blurred into one another until the weekend had turned to a very bright and early and <em>unwelcome<em> Monday morning.

Judging by the swells of sickness that lifted from her gut as the cab abruptly stopped and started in the early morning traffic, _**extremely unwelcome.**_

_She really shouldn't have had that second bottle of wine... _She thinks to herself,trying to keep from feeling every possible bump in the road.

"Mom? You okay?" Cassie calls, as she looks over at her rather green Mother.

"Not really sweetie." She replies honestly. "Don't worry, at some point you'll completely understand how I'm feeling." She groans, looking up as the cab stops at it's intended destination. "Thank God. We're here."

"Is this my new school?" The little girl asks, looking up to the wrought iron sign reading the words 'Lemont Preparatory School'.

"It may be. If you enjoy today then we can talk about it _being_ your new school?" She reasons, getting out the cab.

"I'm not dressed for it." Cassie grumbles, pulling at her jeans and sweater.

"Not yet. But don't let that stop you having a great time."

She watches her daughter process her words. _Ever the thoughtful one..._

She leans down slightly, pushing a stray curl behind her daughters ear.

"Okay. Ready to go inside?" She asks.

"Yes. I am." Cassie smiles lopsidedly. She reminds her instantly of her Father.

"Good." She forces a smile, taking her hand and pushing the reception door open.

* * *

><p>When she arrives at the firm it's already nine thirty and she's so much later than she'd hoped to have been.<p>

_Nothing like arriving to your new job nearly three hours later than the official start of the working day...  
><em>

Add to that a pounding headache and the feeling that you're not the sharpest dressed woman in the elevator anymore, makes for the worst personal position to jump into what is essentially a lion pit.

_A lion pit that your ex husband owns the majority share of..._

_A lion pit that you've been in before, and therefore know just how shitty it can get if you're this unprepared...  
><em>

As the doors open she is faced with an immediate deja vu, which was to be expected, considering she'd previously spent a fourth of her life here.

So she does what any self respecting woman in her position would do; stands tall and stalks the halls.

One old Manolo at a time.

When she reaches Mike's office, she frowns immediately; a note on the glass door reading '_Not mine anymore. Check Harvey's old one_' and a noticeably empty office space.

She looks over, Noticing Harvey's bonehead assistant sat not fifteen foot away, bleach perfect and completely in a world of her own. She shakes her head, _thanking her lucky stars she wasn't born that stupid _and turns on her heel in the direction of Harvey's old corner office; back in the days of Jessica Pearson's iron clad, Prada-wearing reign.

When she arrives at the end of the hall, Mike is propped up against what she assumes will once again be her desk.

"Hey there. You found the note, I gather?" He says, pushing off of the desk.

"Yes I did. Why the office move?" She asks, her bag hanging from her arm in question.

"Rachel alerted me to the fact that you might not want to sit next to Harvey's assistant _or_ his office five days a week.

"Wait. Five?"

"Yeah, we'll get a temp in every Saturday, and I figured that we could all manage Cassie when Ray picks her up after school each day? At your discretion of course."

"You really have this all figured out, don't you?" She asks, quirking an impressed eyebrow at him.

"I just wanted to help." He shrugs simply.

"You really didn't need to, Mike."

"But someone had to...and to tell you the truth I think that Harvey is silently thankful that I could do what he couldn't."

"How's that?" She frowns, not quite catching on.

"_Harvey's not always the sharpest emotional tool in the box_."

"You don't have to tell me that." She quips, breathing a sigh of finality. "Okay. Let's get started. I gather I have a lot to catch up on?"

"I'm sure you'll pick it up." He smiles confidently.

"I guess it's good I don't have to pick your brain to know where you're coming from."

"I know. I guess this is gonna be kind of weird, right? Me being your Boss."

"Oh, Michael," She plays, walking around him to get into her cubicle. "Sorry to disappoint, but you'll never be the Boss of me." She looks up to see him enjoying the banter at hand.

"I don't doubt it for a New York minute," He smiles. "It's for_ that_ attitude that I insisted you be _my_ Assistant in the first place."

"I was always motherly to you before, Mike. I might not be as supportive this time." She warns good naturedly.

"Oh; I expect you to kick my ass whenever I'm wrong, don't you worry about that!"

"Good to know." She smiles. "So. What do you need, Mr Ross?" She says, playing her role.

"Just...give yourself an hour to get settled, find your way around the new mainframe and filing and then I'm sure things will start flooding in. I made sure today was strictly listed as 'a personal day'."

"And what would you have done had I _not_ come in?" She asks with interest.

"Taken Rachel out for Lunch? Vegged? Annoyed Louis? Begged to you on the phone? You know, the usual."

She laughs. "**_You can put the man in a Suit, but you can't take the boy out of the man_**." She muses, entertained by the still remnants of boyishness lurking in a now very grown up man. She feels the swell of gratitude mixed with the maternal pinch of pride.

"See. Settling in already." He jokes, wandering down the hall.

"Oh and Michael?" She calls to him, causing him to halt and a rather boyish expression to ripple against his features once more. _Just like the old days..._

"I have a hangover the size of Connecticut." She eyes him pointedly.

"One skinny hazelnut latte with cream coming right up." He says with a knowing smile.

"Thank you." She words to him thankfully, before looking at the paperwork in front of her, a comfortable sigh overcoming the otherwise nervous feeling in her stomach.

_Things may just turn out okay… _She thinks to herself, her fingers finding that familiar rhythm on the keyboard.

* * *

><p>The first few hours run into one another, when Mike's office gets a number of calls and she has to step up her game to get ahead of the rat race without any proper background information. It's testing, but somehow fitting for that little part of her that loves chaos and the taming of such a thing. She works through lunch to make as much of a point as advantage over the workload - even though Mike insists on her taking the time - and by lunch time itself is over, she's in the file room, plucking evidence of old cases that she's even had a hand in in the past.<p>

It's comforting. The smell of the file room. Like it hasn't changed in over nine hundred days, that mixture of copydex and paper and stale air.

_She never realized how much she missed it until now..._

When she thinks back she's thankful that no one had noticed on the phone that she was the Donna that helmed the relationships of much of the firms clients. At least for the time being, working under Mike Ross meant a fresher newer take on the world that she knew so well.

"Oh. It's you." Says an annoyingly memorable voice.

She turns to see the little Blonde thing staring at her with wide pale eyes.

"I just go by Donna now. Or for you...Ms Paulsen nee' Specter." She replies icily.

_She can't help it. _The girl seems no more stupid than she had been in the past. It was understandable in retrospect. But the girl is playing with fire. Literally.

"Right. I'm not sure we've been properly introduced. I'm Katie." She says, holding her hand out. "**Harvey's Assistant**."She says pointedly.

First mistake.

"Right." Donna says, shaking the girl's soft hand rather briefly. "So. What are you doing here, Katie?"

"I wanted to ask why you decided to come back...to the firm?"

Second...mistake.

"That's not really any of your business now...Kayley."

"It's actually Katie-"

"I don't care if it's Hayley. Do yourself a favor and focus on your job. I did _your_ job for nearly ten years, so I can tell when it being done very badly and I can especially tell when an Assistant's focus isn't _quite_ on the work...if you know what I mean?" She smiles, gritting her teeth for effect.

"That's none of your b-business-" She young woman stutters, her face glowing slightly pink as she struggles for words.

"Of course it's not, Kayley." She reams off the words. "**_Anymore_**. But just so we understand each other. I won't ask about _that_. And you won't ask about **me**. _Or my daughter._ Got it?"

"Uh-"

"I'll take that as a yes." She interrupts, shrugging, before sliding past the shorter woman with a flick of her fiery hair.

And as much as it shouldn't...it feels fabulous to put the girl in her place.

* * *

><p>She's settling in more and more by the minute, as she stirs her afternoon coffee with stevia, needing that extra push before she has to leave to pick up her daughter in a few hours.<p>

She's unprepared, oddly,_ for the next twelve and a half minutes_…

"**What did you say to her**?"

She hears the sharp words accompanied by the slamming of the 'Associate's Lounge' door. When she looks up, Harvey Specter's sharp set suited form stands with eyes like steel and a jaw that could cut a diamond in half…

"Well, Donna?" The demand is thick in his deep voice.

"Hi Harvey." She says over-animatedly. "_Yes, I'm settling in nicely, Thank you for asking_. And the welcome muffin basket you sent was delightful." She replies, a tired inevitability as she allows herself this one time to work out his posture and position, still stirring her cup of steadily cooling coffee with a tad more vigor.

"What. Did, you say to her?" He asks again, the angular words coming out with grit and purpose.

Her chin lifts at his accusation. "For the record..._she_ came to _me_. To stake her claim on her position or your penis or whatever. _I don't really care_. But she came for me. I just…put her in her place."

"Donna let's not pretend-"

"No Harvey, let's _not_ pretend." She interrupts, picking up her cup. "Now...I don't work for you. So if you have an issue with my productivity, by all means, go to Mike. Otherwise, I'm going to drink this coffee, and then I'm going to pick our child from her first day at a new school."

"She...what?" He gawps, all the tension draining from his face at the remembrance of Cassie.

"Oh? New information for you? How about you try asking about our child, instead of worrying about your juvenile Fuck buddy of an Assistant?" She says icily, sliding to stand opposite him, the subtext lacing her expression for him to move.

"Donna…" He manages through gritted teeth, moving marginally.

"Thank you Harvey." She says evenly, opening the door. She notices how his hand catches it, opening it the rest of the way.

"Donna?" He asks then, the pressure easing out of his voice.

"What?" She asks, exasperated already.

"Let me do it."

"What?" She frowns, bending on a heel.

"Let me go pick her up."

"You have a meeting with Joshua Randall." She says, deadpan.

"What?" He blinks, confused. "_How did you_…"

In seconds he's reduced to the thirty year old version of himself...

"Really?" She half-snorts, arching an eyebrow and sipping her coffee.

The look on his face tells her he's forgotten everything about them over the years...

"Tell you what." She says, her face flattening. "Pick her up tomorrow? I'll send the address."

"Okay." He nods vacantly, as she walks away.

She feels his eyes bore into her back with a concentrated strength.

She doesn't linger on the reasons why.

* * *

><p><em>It's not her job to anymore. <em>

_Snowfall some how it doesn't melt boy when it hits you, why?_

_All this life I've been drowned by confusion._

_What you want is slowly losing one love._

_You say you don't know you were gonna_

_Break my heart on the winter night._

_It's that what you want is_

_Say the words and I'll be gone now._

_Show you I was gonna _

_Lose you to the blue._

_Where is the love we had? love we had?_

_Where is the love we had?_

_Oh what a waste of time. - Mo 'Waste of Time'_

* * *

><p>He doesn't take a verbal swipe at Mike. He doesn't snap at his Assistant. He doesn't even hunt down Louis to burn a few bridges until the day's end.<p>

He just... _Drinks_. Quietly into the afternoon and early evening, having all calls turned to messages and all drop-ins turned away or diverted to another Partner depending on their urgency.

He even misses his Assistant clocking out. She doesn't even come to check on him and he knows that it has everything to do with the events earlier in the day. Not that he cares, really.

People will talk. As is the nature of the social beast...

Donna was right...Katie_ shouldn't_ have gone looking nor asking. It was a foolish mistake and naive of her to think that she had any right to.

The interchange with Donna annoys him more than he would like it to. And her refusal to have him pick up Cassie today ties his stomach in knots, in a way that it never has before.

He knows, in equal parts guilt and self-loathing that she's not trying to hurt him.

But it sure as hell feels like it.

So, he continues to drink. Until he calls Mike.

_Then he's not feeling quite so objective about it all._

* * *

><p>She's thankful that Rachel offers to take her out later that evening; despite the many boxes still needing to be unpacked; with Mike babysitting Cassie it seems like a sobering but hopefully nostalgic night out with her friend to ease a difficult day. Really, if she were to be a better Mother she would stay home with her baby. But the moment that Mike offers up a night of 'five year old Mayhem', including turning their house into a giant fort and other childish things, Cassie's already out the door with her back-pack before she can coax either herself or her daughter into being reasonable and conventional.<p>

She dresses in her almost best, feeling younger and lighter than she has since she stepped foot back into the city, and is grateful when Rachel finds one of their old haunts still open and virtually unchanged from their last visit.

Rachel's bladder is working over time on Mocktails, leaving her in the bathroom for the sixth time in the two hours that they've been out so far. Donna offered for them to go home after trip number five, but as Rachel insisted on them staying, she was now stag at a busy bar, waiting for her to return from bathroom break number seven.

Over the bar, a man had caught her eye; tall, dark brown hair and a self satisfied grin as he started to make his way over to her. She wasn't in the mood, but it was to be expected; _hell, she was practically bar bait by this point_...

"Wow, _**you're stunning**_." The man says, drinking her in in a way that makes her question if he even had a Mother...

"I'm **_Donna_**, actually. And you are?" She says, a hint of a purr in her flirtatious delivery. She's not for a second about to give this guy an easy ride, though, letting her sharp glare linger a little longer. That would completely take the fun out of it.

"Derek." He offers. Another smirk.

**_Donna and Derek_**. _It doesn't bare thinking about_, she thinks to herself.

"What's a beautiful woman like you doing in a place like this?" He says.

"Having a drink. With a friend. _And you?_ Apart from half-quoting films…" She replies, trying to abate the sneer emitting from her upper lip.

"Looking for the perfect distraction." He says, sidling up against her at the bar.

"How much you looking for? Half an hour? Two? Half an evening?" She plays, entertained by his obtuse reply.

"What are _you_ thinking?" He asks, immediate interest painting his face as he leans in slightly.

"Amongst other things…'**No**' is at the forefront of my mind," She says; her cat-like grin pointing at the edges. It's somehow suddenly too much fun to toy with the man...

"Oh, come on sweetness." He says, his hand sliding onto her thigh.

She's immediately taken aback. _Is this how 'forward' Manhattan's gotten? Is everyone just 'jumping in'? _She looks down, deliberately staring at the hand in question, trying to make a point she's sure he's not going to get any time soon.

"**Buddy. She said she's not interested**."

The words come out of nowhere. A shiver runs down her spine and it's all it takes to keep her from putting on a face like thunder. He looks chiseled and menacing in the orange lighting of the bar.

"And who the hell are you, her _**dad**_?" The guy says, straightening up from the bar stool, as he glares at the man with slightly greying hair.

"I'm her husband." He replies, that dangerous look in his eye glinting as he eyes up the guy who's at least an inch and a half taller than him.

"Ex-husband," Donna corrects. There's an immediate bad feeling in her gut. She knows this man too well for her own good, _and his_. "Harvey." She warns, her eyes trying to connect with his.

"Well, then, read the title, '_**Ex-husband**_'; the lady and I were just-"

"She said no." Harvey presses, unaffected as the guy stands a little straighter.

"Hey buddy, why don't you just back off-"

It happens so quickly that she's completely out of sync until she sees the blood spray from the guy's nose, like she's in a frank miller graphic novel, spilling in perfectly round crimson droplets that fall heavily onto the carpeted floor, paving the way for the guy in question, face first.

"Harvey no! Oh my god," She splutters, wincing at the guy on the floor. "You just…punched that guy!" She shouts; aware that people all around the bar are now looking but the Bouncers seem to be nowhere in sight.

"Shit," Harvey winces, holding his hand as he stands back.

She picks up her purse, stalking out to the front of club; thoughts of Rachel dissipating into the air. She knows he's followed her because he's half-mumbling curses into the night air. She whips around to face him, her heart thumping against her chest.

"What has gotten into you? And why are you even here? Shouldn't you be out boning the latest Maxim cover? Or that beauty queen chained to your desk?" She fires, waiting for bouncers to follow them.

"That was one time, Donna, and it was a mistake, alright?" He counters, sucking air through his teeth.

"Not according to Louis. **_Or my senses_**." She remarks, the venom in her spitting out the words.

He blanches just fractionally at her statement. "I don't tell Louis everything. And what's_ that_ supposed to mean?" He fires back at her through the pressure building in his bleeding hand.

"Why am I not surprised by that? And by senses, _I mean I could smell her all over you_, _**you Asshole!**_"

"I…" He stutters, finally out of words and actions.

"Yeah." She nods, the knowing condescending tone in her voice. "And yet, here you are, punching perfectly…" She backs down, the reality of the last five minutes hitting her. "**Rude guys in bars**," She blurts out, her sentence trailing as she tries to regain the upper hand. He's too quick though, as he interrupts.

"_Exactly_. He _was_ rude. God, what does he have, an iron jaw? _Shit_…" He winces, holding his hand.

"That's still not your call, Harvey! _You know I can handle myself,_ I don't need you and your fly-off-the-handle temper to explode in public. Especially considering that we haven't been married **for three years**, you don't exactly have the right anymore. **Would you not agree**?"

"I…I'm sorry." He says then. "Okay? I'm sorry!" He all but shouts.

"Yeah. Don't call me to post your bail when they arrest you in five minutes." She says bitterly, looking out into the road for the nearest signs of a much needed cab.

"I know a good lawyer." He says dryly.

"_**What happened to you**_?" She asks the question like she's looking for an answer in his features. _But she knows_. There's only a handful of moments that Harvey would ever punch a guy over. His honor. His Mother. And Her. "You gonna answer my question? Why are you here?"

"I needed a drink." He lies, giving her a trademark closed off stare. "You?"

"Rachel heard about today, and thought that I could use a night off. But I'll bet you already knew that, right?"

His silence tells her that she's right; that Mike told him. She can't even be angry at the kid, with this man standing in front of her holding his hand like it was all unavoidable.

"Which reminds me. Why is Mike watching _my_ kid?" He fires at her, knocking her out of thought.

"Uh...you're best friends? And partners? And Rachel's busy...here...with me?" She answers, like it's all too obvious.

"It's not _who's_ watching her, Donna. It's the fact that _I'm not_. Couldn't you have asked me today?"

"You really think after the way you spoke to me today that I'd even want to look at you right now? Let alone have you watch our child?"

_Her peeling anger must count for something_, she thinks, as he starts to back off, his tone tiring.

"That's not the point, Donna. She's **_my_** kid."

"Harvey…" She sighs, genuinely lost for words. _This man makes her crazy_. Uncontrollably so. "I have to go find Rachel. Just…**go home**."

She can see it, on the edge of his tongue, the 'you're not my wife anymore', until he double checks it, or another thought overtakes him.

She walks back into the bar, leaving him to the sidewalk. Feeling like the drama inside is worth more than the drama outside.

She's only been in the city for a week. _It figures._

_This_ is her life now.

* * *

><p>The entire ride home she feels bad about their interchange, regardless of his fuck up of an appearance tonight. And after sending Rachel home safe and downing two tequila quick shots before leaving the bar she misdirects her cab to Harvey's address.<p>

It's a bad move, but something tells her that he doesn't have company tonight.

_She's wrong_, of course.

As she glides into the building's entrance, noting that the security has changed - no longer lovely and reliable Henry waiting for her - She passes a leggy half dressed blonde who isn't the one usually guarding his desk. She all but hisses into the air and almost thinks of backing out, until she decides that catching him in a post-coital haze is probably one of his better moods in order to say what she's come to say.

_She tries not to linger on how he's managed to fuck a woman with a possibly broken hand..._

She taps her toe, glancing briefly at her reflection in the elevator's mirrored walls, makeup slightly smudged and that drink-hazed gussy about her, until the doors open on his floor.

"_**Forgotten something, have you**_?" She hears his sultry voice call as her heels click against the marbled floor.

"Oh Harvey," She calls to him lavishly. "You won't be hearing from her until _at least _the morning…" She drawls, aware of the effect her voice has probably had on his demeanor.

When he comes into view he's standing in the middle of his lounge, his hand wrapped in a dishtowel and a look on his face that matches both intrigue and annoyance at being caught out.

"She was _**hot**_." She remarks, eying him shrewdly with a slightly come hither pout that her twenty-something self used to use.

"What'cha doing here, Donna?" He asks, immediately guarded at the sight of her presence in his 'bat cave' as she used to call it so many moons ago...

"You didn't answer my question earlier. Why were you there, Harvey?" She presses, standing that extra inch above him in her precious red backed Louboutins.

His eyes sharpen as he gives her a look, his eye vaguely taking in her form before wandering over to the kitchen. "You want a drink?" He asks, half sarcastic, half genuinely interested in the offer.

It's only then that she allows herself the luxury that her self restraint being addled can deliver right now. The memory of her old self is saturated all over the apartment in layers of positive and negative emotions.

_This was once her home. _

_Only Alcohol can quash that right now._

She still can't understand how he could live here after everything that had happened. It would kill her to stay even a day. It was killing her to be here right now.

"Why not." She shrugs, perching on a bar stool opposite his roaming form. She watches quietly, as he takes the decanter that's misplaced on the kitchen counter-top - it used to belong on the sharp table near the sofa by the window - opening the cupboard to pick out a fresh glass - that she'd bought in a pack of twelve from a boutique in lower Manhattan almost four years ago - to pour a hefty measure of amber courage into it. _Straight up_. She holds her hand out as he slides the glass quickly from his side of the counter to hers, a little game they used to play back when they were good, _amazing _even. She picks up the glass, a smile at their still lingering synchronicity, letting the sting of alcohol run down her throat as she breathes in, somewhat deliberately, to remind him of what he doesn't have anymore. He reacts, his eyes flickering to the long column of her throat, before he whips around to the freezer to get a bag of frozen peas, replacing the ones that have thawed in the kitchen towel still wrapped around his hand.

"You need to go to the hospital." She observes.

"It's not broken." He remarks, wincing slightly as he wraps the towel once and twice around his knuckles.

"So?" She's the first to break the moments silence.

"I shouldn't have gone there." He blurts out, as if he's been holding it in along with stale air.

"Why _did_ you?" She asks simply.

"I...didn't like the idea of you..._single and ready to mingle_." He smirks at the play of words.

"I've been 'mingling' for three years, Harvey." She lies. _They both know it's probably been half of that._

"Not on my turf, you haven't." He remarks, getting another glass for himself.

"This used to be _my city_ too, Harvey." She argues, just a fraction off of placating.

"You know what I mean." He says tenderly, aware of the wrong implication in his words as his eyes flick to hers.

"Okay." She nods, processing the information. "This is going to be hard. For both of us. That's a given. God knows smelling your cologne all over your receptionist wasn't the best 'first meeting' I could have hoped for..." She says, the irony of such a thing making her stomach churn.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were coming back." He says, genuine regret in his eyes.

"I know. But _still_ Harvey...you'd think that 'our' relationship would have taught you about the risks of shitting where you eat?" She says, letting the implication settle on him as she gestures between them.

"I guess I deserve that." He winces, a smirk rising lopsidedly on his face through the haze of drink and pain of all colours.

"You do, don't you?" She jokes slyly. It's not lost on him either, as he struggles to not smile, instead shaking his head to rid the proof of such a thing on his still handsome face. "Listen, I actually came here to clear the air."

"Yeah?" He remarks, the edge creeping back into his voice.

"Much as you might think the opposite right now, I didn't accept Mike's invitation back to the firm just to hurt you."

"I know that. I'm glad you're there. You always were asset to the firm. You know that." He shrugs, covering the sensitivity in his voice.

"I came back...because we need to make Cassie's life more stable. And I meant that. It's the only reason, and believe me when I say that I've tried _everything_ else." She sighs, covering the glassy look in her eye with another swig of liquid truth.

"So...how do we do this?" He asks then.

"You can have Cassie every Sunday. If you want?" She offers.

"Yeah. I'd like that." He says, nodding.

"But dare I say, _no sleepovers of the tacky twenty year old kind_?"

"Yeah," He snaps, before choosing to rein it in. "Got it."

"Then, if you want more time, during the week or...we can discuss that later. In a week maybe?"

"Okay." He nods. He's not sure what he can give realistically speaking. _He is a lawyer, after all..._

"It'd also be nice...if she had a room here."

"She has a room here." He shrugs defensively.

"A _real_ one, Harvey. With things that are hers. That she can keep here."

"Okay. Fine. I'll take her shopping." He offers tiredly.

"Thank you. I'll email you a list of must-haves." She says, downing the last of her drink before she stands to her feet. "And Harvey?" She asks, sliding her purse off of the breakfast counter.

"What?"

"Get _that_ looked at." She says, pointing at his hand, before stalking down towards the elevator.

She doesn't wait for him to answer.

She's past _that_ side of their relationship.

* * *

><p><em>It's dark, it's cold<br>No warmth on toes  
>This house, it yells at me<br>Stay home, be free from she_

_And we are safe from any harm  
>In our home, no light or charms<br>Just us all on our own  
>No one we all are grown - Hayden Calnin 'Shutters'<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Harvey Specter has a tough decision to make.<strong>

He's pretty sure he has to drop his assistant.

_The one he'd ceremoniously slept with almost two nights ago. And twice...before that.  
><em>

It hadn't been his best decision. But she had been ready and willing and in his apartment delivering files with a cleavage that dropped lower than her office clothes would normally allow for. And then he'd just...called. And again, she had been willing. Eager, even.

_And now_...he was faced with the professional reality of his actions. Or 'Fuck-up'. Whichever better defined his situation.

Fact was, he needed to clean this mess up. And fast.

And the idea of such a thing had a mountain of paperwork behind it and a trail of sub-adequate floating temps for him to consecutively hire and fire at will.

Two days ago he was fine. Happy. Oblivious, even.

_Okay._ Maybe not...happy. But content. And busy. And not preoccupied as he now was with the implications of his ex wife roaming the halls once again.

_His ex wife._

It had been a long time since he'd thought about that title. Wife. _Ex- _Wife.

_Donna, _as she had once been so famously called… Like Cher, or Sade, or Madonna.

He slumps into his low slung black leather chair, the whiskey in his glass rocking slightly against uneven ice as he undoes the button of his jacket to ease his posture out a little. He sighs then, into the heavy blackness of his unlit office, the glare from the hallway and the city skyline dropping the only flickers of light into the room.

Anyone outside who could see him wouldn't dare to enter, like a Lion fiercely, guarding his territory. Harvey Specter already had a fearsome reputation, made only heavier when Donna hadn't been there to soften his edges. Nowadays, he found comfort in the simpler bachelor years of his life.

Some people called him 'detached' 'emotionless' and 'insensitive' and he could admit, not all the rumors were false.

But the game was slowly changing now, new players had returned to start where they'd left off and to tell the truth...it had him off kilter.

Donna wasn't a bad woman. On the contrary she could be the very best of women. And a better man than he could be at times...

But right now she looked like a missile headed for him and his firm. _His eternal family_. And a still beautiful charming missile at that.

Things had changed over the years and so had they. Things said and done too far past the point of an 'I'm sorry' anymore.

But above that, peeking out through the murky waters of their decimated relationship shone one little amber colored beacon of hope.

Cassandra **_Hope_** Specter, to be exact.

And she would have to be his primary focus for now. And that meant eradicating anything that could get in the way of that.

_For His daughter's sake. _

_He decides there and then, that tomorrow may well be a very different day..._

* * *

><p><strong>As always, please feed the kitty! I'm having fun swimming in this pool of strangeness with these characters. Hope you enjoy the ride!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

_Huge thanks to everyone who has fed so far! You guys are stars!_

_Will try and continue with older stories, maybe add a few chapters across the board._

_As for questions on how long it'll be, I'm not sure. I'm going to try and push it as far as I can, (Ten ish Chapters) and then wrap it up._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

* * *

><p>Working for Mike is… different.<p>

In some ways better. And some ways..._just_ _different_.

She's not entirely used to it, after three years out and her past ten years working for Harvey.

Mike...is more prepared most days. Unlike Harvey, he doesn't lean on her to satisfy every whim of his and half the time that difference leaves her at a crossroads as to her next course of action. She only realises then just how much Harvey and her had blended together over the years, and how this could be the start of a rather conventional employment for her.

With Mike, its cleaner. He's not a bachelor now, nor is he emotionally inept; if anything he's slightly more evolved than _even she can be at times_.

Her job in this respect, is just to support. Not even to council, at this point. Memories flood back to the days of her problem solving for him and nurturing his growth, as a Rookie-Associate-come-fraud.

She can see that Mike..._ is truly in his element now_.

Except for when an argument breaks out.

"That is a crock of shit!" She hears him spit down the phone. "If you think that threatening me on the phone is going to get us to cave with the formalities then you are thoroughly mistaken, Mr Frink. Think again!" He says dramatically, crashing the receiver down into the rest of the phone console.

She merely looks up, smirking.

"Too harsh? He enquires through the intercom.

"Couple of seconds late on the kill if you ask me. And totally missed out the opportunity for a good _pun_." She says evenly, her fingers furiously typing away.

"Late? Okay… I'll work on it." He says objectively, straightening out his shirt sleeves like he's suddenly in Wall Street again. "Pun?" He asks, interested.

"'_**Frink**'_ again?" She offers, a cat like smile frowning.

"Damn it, you're right." He says, smiling to himself.

"_**Donna**_,"

She's momentarily taken aback by the sharp tailored lines and darkened demeanour of her ex husband leaning over the counter at her. She doesn't move an inch, save for her hands stiffening against the keys.

"Harvey, what can I…do for you?" She asks unevenly, her chin lifting to meet his eyes.

"I need your...uh...assistance?" He says, clearing his throat somewhat.

Her eyebrows raise slowly at his ambiguous question.

They're interrupted by Mike getting in on the action, as he swoops into view next to them both, eyeing Harvey with a flash of humour in his eyes, like he's going in for the kill. "_What's this I see here? _Asking_ my assistant_ for help, are we?"

"**Mike**, _don't be a dick_." Harvey remarks, rolling his eyes. "Like you never asked Donna for help when you were in the bullpen?" He says, giving him a tired look.

"Only like a thousand times..." She finds herself saying. She checks herself immediately. "Plus. We're playing nice now, Mike. **_Pay attention_**." She smiles. "What can I do for you, Harvey?" She asks.

"I need the list." He says, stony faced.

"The...list?" She clarifies.

"Which list are you...?" Mike chimes in, unsure of the topic of discussion.

"I was just about to send the list for Cassie?" She checks.

"_Oh_. No. But...yes. I need that list too. I need the other..._list_. Don't tell me you don't still have it. You remember everything." He says heavily, his shoulders falling slightly.

"**_Oh_**." Mike exclaims….catching on. "Would this be the one that fills the current space outside your office?" He asks, smirking against Harvey's worn in frown. "There's a list for that?" He asks, looking to Donna.

"Subtle, Mike." Harvey admonishes cruelly.

"You fired your..." _Fuck Buddy. Waste of time. Beauty Queen..._ "Assistant?" Donna interrupts, unable to hide the shock on her face.

"Yeah. So. I need another one. 'Stat'." He says pensively.

"_**I'll get right on it**_…" She says, her eyes wide but sincere.

"Wait a minute, aren't you supposed to be _my assistant-" _Mike chimes up immediately.

"Shut up, Mike."

"Shut up, Mike." They fire at him in perfect unison.

"I knew this situation was gonna come around to bite me in the ass," He grumbles deliberately, sidling back into his office, as Harvey gives him a look.

"So Emotional." Harvey remarks, as she smirks back, her fingers working on keys once more as Harvey disappears back down the hall.

* * *

><p>Stalking down the halls towards Harvey's office and seeing her old spot now vacated is a strange experience. Like a gear shift back five years; like she's forgotten to go back to her desk and man her position. Her eyes linger on her vacant chair and the walls of a cubicle saturated in stale memory. She glides past, noticing him writing but not particularly busy.<p>

She does the manner-able thing and knocks, before sliding between the glass door and walls, shutting it behind her, a piece of paper in her dainty hands as her manicured nails scratch at the parchment.

His eyes flick up automatically, noticing her as he straightens in his seat at her sudden presence.

"Hey." She says. "I got you the list. It's a good one. Some very reputable options for you to browse at your leisure. And all ready to start in the next day or two." She says, sliding the paper onto his desk as her hip pops. It's an ingrained gesture that seems awkward now given their rather tenuous situation.

He picks up the papers, glancing through the various credentials. "Nice," He says, leaning back as an impressed look washes over him. "Not bad for two hours." He admonishes.

"And do yourself a favour, Harvey." She says, turning on her heel. "_Try not to sleep with any of them_." She says, walking to the door with a wry smile.

He looks at her, a million things fleeting past his eyes, until all he can do is smile unevenly, watching her retreating form as she saunters victoriously down the hall.

All red hair and purpose. _Just like the old times..._

* * *

><p>The day swings along at a comfortable pace for Harvey Specter; Donna silently combining both Mike and Harvey's paperwork as an adequate floating temp flies in to man the phones. As a lot of their cases are jointly managed, it's an effortless endeavour, and easy for Donna to get up to speed given that the majority of Harvey's dealings had her in involvement in the past.<p>

Something in him lightens as it draws to three o'clock, a text message through Ray - no doubt from Donna - to remind him that the car will be out front to pick him up and travel to Lower Manhattan for his daughter.

He swaggers out of the office and moments later slides into the back of his Lexus, Ray nodding in the rear view mirror as he makes himself comfortable.

"Afternoon Harvey," Ray says cheerfully.

"Hey Ray. How's it going?" He asks, nodding into the rear view mirror.

"Good, thank you. Ready to pick up the young Miss Specter?" He asks.

"Yeah. This is...new. So remember the address. We'll be using it a lot more often" He says.

"Already in here, Sir." Ray insists calmly, pointing to his temple. "Along with Ms Paulsen's new address."

"Good." He mumbles, smirking. "Thank you."

It doesn't take too long to cross down to Lower Manhattan, the traffic steady and peeling them up to the School Gates in less than half an hour; which for city traffic is verging on miraculous.

His face drains of colour when he sees his Daughter stood outside on the side-walk without an attendant present. He immediately jumps out of the car onto the side-walk.

"Cassie, what are you doing out here alone?" He asks, his eyes wide as he stares at his Daughter, who is clearly unperturbed by his actions.

"Uh...waiting for you? Mom said-"

"**I don't care what your Mom said**; you _NEVER_ stand outside here alone, you wait inside by reception, do you hear me!?" He says, the pressure falling over his fraught voice as his features tighten.

His daughter stares, eyes wider than he's ever seen, her lip quivering slightly. "I, I'm sorry, Dad." She says, her voice faltering.

His heart folds then, seeing her reaction, and bends over, moving a hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry Kid. I mean to scare you, but someone could take you if you stand out here alone. You're not safe, okay? So in future; standby reception and wait for me or your Mom. Is that clear?" He clarifies, trying to keep a hold of the hard knots in his voice.

"I'm sorry. I was excited to see you." She rambles, looking at the floor.

"I was excited too, honey. But you can't put yourself in danger, okay?" He reasons.

"Okay Dad." She says, nodding and finally meeting his eye.

"Now; I have to go into your school and nail them to the wall for letting you outside unattended. _And then_...we are gonna go shopping for things for your room. Okay?"

"I already have things for my room?" She questions, a small frown lacing between her brows.

"Not for your bedroom_ at my Condo, _you don't." He smirks.

"Really?" She asks, her face brightening. "Like...anything I want?"

"Anything. Now, get in the car. Ray'll keep you company whilst I go threaten a lawsuit at your new school." He says, grinning wickedly.

"_Be nice_ Dad." She says, sounding like her Mother as she slides in the back seat.

"_I'm always nice_, he insists, shutting the car door behind her.

* * *

><p>Shopping with Cassie isn't dissimilar to previous excursions that he used to have with her Mother. Minus the change of subject matter, she's pretty succinct when it comes to making a decision on things. And she's razor smart above her age, and looks at the world in a different way than any kid he's ever known.<p>

She makes him_ think _about things.

Makes him_ wonder_.

"Dad?" She says, pulling him out of his reverie, as he blinks, scanning their current surroundings, a kitschy Diner on 3rd that delivers the best Banana Split that he could offer her.

"Yeah?" He says, watching her pick up a large, cream laden spoonful of Neapolitan Ice cream, half of it dripping off and onto the duck egg blue plate in front of her.

"You okay?" She asks.

"Sure Sweetie. How's the 'split?"

"It's good." She says through a mouthful of ice cream. "How's the pie?" She asks.

"It's good." He chuckles. "Nice choice."

"I _loooove_ Cherry Pie." She says matter of factly.

"You want some?" He offers with a smile.

"No. You eat it. I'll get it next time." She says.

_Next Time. _

He likes those words.

They mean something now.

Something new for him. _For them_.

* * *

><p>Call it magic, call it true<br>I call it magic when I'm with you  
>And I just got broken, broken into two<br>Still I call it magic, when I'm next to you

And I don't, and I don't, and I don't, and I don't  
>No I don't, it's true<br>I don't, no, I don't, no, I don't, no, I don't  
>Want anybody else but you<p>

_-Coldplay 'Magic'_

* * *

><p><em>It's not that she doesn't trust him. <em>

In essence she trusts only him. But sometimes he can fall flat with regards to Cassie, and by this point she is desperate for them to finally click with a permanence. She taps her toe on the carpet, the irony of the fact that this is the second time in a week that she's standing in Harvey's elevator on her way to his condo.

_She swore she'd never set foot in here ever again…_

When she enters the apartment, she wonders where they are, until she hears voices coming from the guest bedroom. She all but tiptoes towards the door, hearing some sort of debate going forward. She notices the 'Cassandra' on the door now. _A good change._

"What about here?" She hears Harvey ask gently.

"No. Up a little bit." She hears their daughter say, a hint of authority in her voice.

"Here?" Harvey asks.

"To the left a bit Dad." She replies.

"Cass, you need to make a choice, we're running out of wall." He explains.

When they come into view, Cassie is stood on a stool, with Harvey holding up the largest picture she's ever seen, a photo underwater, filled with coral and fishes and bubbles of colour.

"Uh...hi guys?" She says, smirking slightly. She notices Harvey straighten out the corner of her eye.

"Mom!" Cassie calls, hopping off the stool to meet her, as she picks up her daughter.

"Hey Pumpkin! How was your day?"

"It was okay. But then Dad picked me up and we had Ice Cream. It was awesome."

"And you bought this, I gather?" She indicates the picture as Harvey leans it against the wall.

"She chose it." He explains, looking to his daughter.

"Of course she did." She says, turning to Cassie. "That's what you wanted, huh?"

"I wanted the room to feel like the sea." Cassie explains.

"I think that's a reasonable request." She agrees, smiling at her daughter. "Did you get anything else?"

"We have a couple of things being delivered that she picked out." He explains, shrugging.

"How was _your_ day, Mom?" She asks.

"I got a Manicure. Like it?" She offers her nails, suppressing giggle when Cassie examines every single one.

"This one's different," Cassie exclaims, curiously looking at her Mother's index finger.

"You're right. It's shorter than the others." She agrees, looking at it herself. "So. You ready to go?"

"If I have to," She says evenly, sliding off her Mother to the floor, before walking over to Harvey. "Bye Dad. Thanks, I had fun." She says, waving at him awkwardly.

"Me too kid." He smirks, ruffling her hair. "We should do this again some time," He jokes.

"Sure. Call me." She says, entertaining him no end, as she picks up her coat, wandering out into the hall for her shoes as Donna had ingrained in her. Her parents watch with equal mirth before their eyes connect with one another.

"How was she?" She asks.

"Good. But she was waiting outside for me at the School. Alone."

"What? Oh God...she does that." She said, her hand lifting to her brow.

"Really? She does that?" He asks, a worried look on his face.

"Yeah. I think about changing her name to Houdini every couple of weeks. Did you tell the School?"

"I... threatened the School, if that's what you're asking."

"Harvey," She admonishes.

"Now they need to...up their attention."

"Mom! We going or not?" Cassie calls from the hall.

She smiles to Harvey, shaking her head at their obtusely precocious child. "I should," She gestures behind her.

"Yeah. _Before she slips out the back_." He remarks dryly.

He watches as a flash of red hair disappears behind the door and down the hall, until he hears the click of his front door shut.

It's a strange experience, coming out of that into complete quiet and dim lighting.

He turns off the light in Cassie's room, floating wordlessly to the kitchen and reaches for a glass. Something to dull the undefined feeling in his gut.

And there he drowns the words forming in his head, until Night turns to morning and Alcohol flows into Coffee.

* * *

><p>The days fall in and out like that.<p>

Cassie coming to his whenever he has a possible afternoon off. Donna helping with the workload occasionally to cover the fact. Mike helps by taking on more than is necessary, with Rachel still early in the pregnancy, he agrees to take the lead when Mike and Rachel's child is born despite the fact that they'll be two Lawyers down by that point.

His new assistant is annoyingly anal about things, but married and not interested in extra curricular activities, so it draws a line in the sand, a much needed solid structure for his work life so that he can spend more time with his kid, an hour here and there with Cassie when he has the opportunity. And every Sunday she sleeps over, and he takes her to school bringing yet another comfortable routine into his life.

And for the first time in a long time he looks forward to the end of the day. Whether it be because of his age, or his newly renewed relationship with his daughter. Or even the fact that he and Donna are on relatable terms again; everything just feels better. He feels better.

And more than accepting the situation at hand...he starts to crave it. That routine. That addition in his life.

For now at least, it is a constant. And he's more grateful to Donna than he'd ever admit.

* * *

><p>For Donna, it's just a normal Saturday afternoon.<p>

When she hears a knock on her door, part of her is stupidly too afraid to look out the window. She's not sure why exactly. It could be for a few reasons these days.

When she opens the door and sees Harvey standing there in jeans and a shirt, she breathes and open sigh of relief, Cassie bounding past her before she even has time to say anything.

"Dad! Hey. What you doing here?" She asks, eyes bright and happy to see him.

"Hey Munchkin. I came to see _you_, of course." He says, ruffling her hair with a smile. She doesn't miss the flick of a gaze towards Donna, who straightens.

"Come in, we're making Pizza." Cassie says, grabbing her father's hand.

"Can…I?" Harvey asks, his eyes unsure as he looks to Donna.

"Yeah. Sure. Hi." She says non-committally, shutting the door as Cassie all but drags her Father down the hall. She sighs. It's something she's grown accustomed to; having a man she's unsure of in her apartment.

When they reach the kitchen, the middle island is filled with vegetables and meats in various coloured bowls, with dough lumps spread out on the counter.

"Wow you're really going all out." He says, examining the room.

"Cassie loves making the pizza, don't you Cass?" Donna explains, smiling to her daughter.

"It's awesome. Look Dad, This one's gonna be a picture of the ocean." She says, pointing.

"On a pizza? That's pretty spectacular," He says, his eyes flicking to Donna's for a second before grinning at his daughter.

"What are you gonna make on yours?" Cassie asks him, looking up at him expectantly.

"Oh, I don't think I'm staying for dinner, honey." He says.

Cassie turns to her Mother expectantly. "Mom. Can Dad stay?" She asks, the obvious expectant look in her eyes.

She feels the question fall to the floor. Despite how well it's been going for them, she's still guarded when it comes to him invading her personal space. She sighs, staring back at her daughter.

"If he hasn't got anywhere else to-"

"I don't. No." He interrupts, an eagerness in his words that's been missing for a long time.

"Then…sure." She says, surprised, rolling out her dough to keep her face even. She spies Cassie loading up another pizza. "Honey, be careful how much you put on that, otherwise it's not gonna cook. And then you'll have the same problem as you did last time." She lectures softly.

"What happened last time?" Harvey asks in a hushed tone, looking over at Donna.

"Raw in the middle." She whispers back.

"Ah. Yeah let's give it a chance to cook, huh Cass?" He reasons, watching the little girl with a spreading warmth as she continues to disregard anyone's advice.

A comfortable silence floods the room, until Cassie looks over at her father.

"What'cha making, Dad? Is it a boat? Or a…cloud? What is it?" She frowns, twisting her head to change the perspective as if that's going to help her.

"It's a…smiley face. No, it's a... can't you tell?" He asks, smirking.

"That's uh. That's great, Dad." She says to him, rearranging it quickly as she pats him on the arm.

He smiles from ear to ear, letting her take over. "You're better at this than me, honey. You wanna take over?"

"Sure. If I have to pick up the slack," She says, like a miniature associate, sighing heavily.

"Hey, Miss Sass..." Donna warns. "You're Dad doesn't know to butter toast or paint a wall; cut him a break." She finally looks at Harvey willingly; "I think she's been listening to you at work. Picking up a few things…" She explains.

"I gathered. Lawyer in training?" He offers.

"We'll see." She says, drawing in a nervous breath at the idea. "Honey, have you told your Father about school yet?" Donna asks, as they both watch Cassie lingering thoughtfully amongst the pile of vegetables.

"Not this week she hasn't; hows it going, kid?" He asks.

"It's boring." She says. "But science class is pretty cool."

"Yeah? Blowing anything up yet?" He asks, grinning.

"Almost. We're making Volcanoes." She says triumphantly.

"Wow; that sounds fun." He says, looking to Donna. "A little advanced for her age though?"

"Yeah...she's really smart." Donna says.

"You telling me," He adds.

"Mom. What did you make?" Cassie asks, bending over the counter to take a look at Donna's handiwork.

"It's a tree. _Is it not obvious_?" She replies, a hint of humorous outrage in her voice at being questioned.

"_It's not your best work_." The little girl says delicately as she places one more piece of pepperoni on the other pizza.

She notices Harvey barely contain a laugh.

"I think you're the only artist in the family, sweetheart." Donna says through an amused look.

"I'm starting to see that…" The little girl says.

"Hey Cass, do you wanna go wash up whilst you're Dad and I stick these in the oven?"

"Okay. Relax Dad. You look like a statue." She says looking up at him with large eyes that suddenly look like her Mother's.

"Sweetheart, you know I _never_ relax." He smiles slightly, looking down at her. "How else will I be a fearsome Boss?" He asks, smirking.

"I know, but still..." She replies vaguely, her voice disappearing into the hall. "This is...downtime."

"You're right. I'll try, but only for you." He says, his voice drifting off as he watches her wander down the hall.

_And then there were two..._

"So," He says, putting the pepperoni down to look at Donna.

"So," She says, her eyes flickering towards his.

He notices her cheeks flush slightly, her usually pale skin taking on a glow as she looks away.

"So, pizza?" He says, attempting to change the subject.

"Yeah. She likes to make her own." She explains, shrugging. "It occupies her for five minutes."

"I gathered. She's really growing up." He smiles.

_There's something beautiful about him when he smiles over his daughter._ She thinks it's possibly the only part of him she still loves. It's a complicated thought to ponder over.

"Yeah. You don't have to miss any more of it." She says, sighing.

"I know. And this place is… _not too bad_," He says carefully, eyeing the old mouldings and frat-boy windows.

"It's no condo but it's…_home_. For now. It's reasonable rent, available now so," She says, drawing a breath.

"I could have gotten you a place Uptown… nearer to me." He points out, leaving the pressure out of his voice.

"No…I think it's near enough here," She says off the bat.

"Donna," He protests, a wounding look falling onto his face.

"You're only a cab ride away." She insists, trying to backtrack.

"The neighbourhood's not great, Donna." He says, a slight accusation there.

"It's not _bad_. It's not the Upper East side; but it's not bad."

"It's _not_-"

"Harvey." She says his name like it's a dead weight. He can see the line drawn in her hazel eyes.

"Fine." He says, looking away.

"Okay we're burning the pizza." She says, opening the oven hurriedly. "Grab that, glove, quickly! Uh-oh." She says, wincing at the fumes.

"Crap." He says, joining her as they wave their hands in front of their faces.

"I smell burning…" A young yet commanding voice says, the distinct sound of criticism in it.

They both turn around to see Cassie looking at them both curiously, her hands comically resting on her hips.

"Well, at least we have more dough, Cass. Better start making those pizzas," Harvey says.

They both watch as she stops the need to roll her eyes at her parents.

_Just like her Father..._

* * *

><p>He kisses Cassie on the head; watching Donna from the hall as he makes his departure down the stairs. Donna follows him out onto the doorstep.<p>

"So. This was… nice. Thanks for letting me stick around."

"It's good for her. She likes you being here." She remarks, hugging the wrap around she has on.

"_I _like being here,"

"Harvey," She warns again.

It's the kindest kind of blow to their relationship.

"I just meant, for Cassie." He says, attempting at least to backtrack the emphasis of his words.

"Good." She says, a defiant look about her.

"Well, I better," He starts, gesturing for the door.

"Yeah…"

A wave of silence hits them both as he turns to make his way down the stone steps. He stops suddenly, walking back up to where she's standing on the doorstep.

"Listen," He says.

"What?"

"This is uh… maybe a little too soon. I just… wanted to ask you,"

"What, Harvey?" She asks, the pit of her stomach dropping in dread of the thousand worst and stupidest things he could possibly say to her in this one moment.

"What do I get Cassie for her birthday? It's coming up soon, right?"

"Oh," She says, a wave of panic abating. The feeling afterwards makes her a little giddy. "Yeah. Why don't you just ask her?" She says, a frown unnaturally painting her face.

"Right. Sure." He says, looking down for a moment. "I'll pick her up tomorrow?" He offers.

"Sure. Any time." She says, until a thought strikes her like well placed lightning. "In fact, I'll drop her off at yours. Say Ten? If you want?"

"Sounds good." He nods, before wandering down the road.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Okay. Small one there wanted to set up some things. A ~<em>**


	4. Chapter 4

Overwhelmed by the very lovely and personal reviews; it's you guys that keep me writing!

Sorry for a Delay, and for the slight curve ball on this one...hope you like it. It's a short one to level the flow. Hopefully I can get another chapter out this week. A ~

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Louis is having a very bad day.<em>

With the mountains of paperwork and a gaggle of Associates that can't the count the puddy, juvenile fingers on their useless hands, he's thoroughly up to the hilt with 'inadequacy in the office'. Not to mention the fact that the '_never_'-vescent Norma, has taken yet another personal day off because of_**yet another**_ _bunion_...

To say he's had enough is an over statement. He is _literally_ one Mudding away from an impromptu Annual Leave.

His eyes widen, his chin jutting back as another pair of much smaller eyes rise above the level of the tabletop in his office.

He freezes, his eyes narrowing as a devilish smile peels slowly and a chin rests on the table, peachy cheeks covered in a dotting of seemingly deliberate freckles.

"_Cassandra_," Louis confirms, glaring somewhat.

**The Specter Brood**. _Maddening_, he thinks. Just...Maddening.

He thanks God that the girl is half Donna's. It's the only thing stopping him from sending out a memo banning children from the entire floor.

"Hey Louis," She say cheerfully, bouncing up to rest her arms on the front of the table. "What'cha doin'?" She asks.

"Work. That's what we adults do whilst you're off playing hop scotch, or tiddlywinks, or whatever it is that you little people do." He remarks, a half grimace forming on his face as his pen taps in his hand, his eyes unmoved on her form.

"What's 'tiddlywinks'?" She asks, scrunching her nose up at the how the sound of the word feels in her mouth.

"Nevermind." He rolls his eyes, returning to his paperwork.

"Is this Mom?" She asks, picking up a large silver frame in her smaller hands.

"_It is_. Back when she was a budding thespian." He says, softening slightly.

"A _thespian_? What's that?" She asks, staring at the photo.

"Really?" He accuses, an eyebrow raised. "Nevermind." He says tiredly, shaking his head.

"Can I have this?" Cassie asks, taking the photo.

"No," He says abruptly, reaching over to quickly yet carefully unwrap the little girl's hands from around the frame as he places it back on his desk, glaring at her marginally as he does so.

"Why are you so cranky?" She asks, leaning forward to observe his surly demeanour

"I'm not…" He rushes. "...'cranky'."

_He is cranky. He knows he is._ _He's just not… ready to deal with the little Specter right now._

She pouts, leaning back from the table then, looking less like her father and especially like her Mother.

He feels the guilt trickle down like sweat on his brow.

"You can have this…" He says, pulling out an item from his desk draw.

He watches as she frowns.

"It's a...cup?" She says, picking it up to see if there's anything inside.

"It's not just a cup. It's a _special_ cup. You're old enough to read, right?"

"Uh… 'Litt' up? What's that mean?"

"**Nevermind**." He grumbles, returning to his paperwork.

"Ahh… Louis. Working hard I see?"

They both look up to see Harvey, swaggering into the room. "I gather that everyone's playing nice?" He enquires, a humorous eye towards Louis who tries to hide the obvious secondary scowl on his face.

"Hey Dad!" Cassie says, spinning around to face him. "Look Dad. Louis gave me a cup!" She smiles.

"Wow." He says, feigning an impressed look. "Yeah...do me a favour and try and sneak that into Mike's office without him finding out? He _loves_ cups."

"Want me to leave it there?" She asks.

"I sure do." He grins, his hands falling into his pockets as he enjoys the moment. "In fact, he just left the office and I think you're Mom is going on lunch. If you're stealthy, you can get in there before your Mom gets back?" He offers, as he watches his daughter weigh up the odds.

"Okay." She nods. "I accept your challenge." She says defiantly. "Bye Louis." She waves, creeping out the office like an energetic spider.

"Good girl." Harvey whispers, watching her bounce down the hall.

"Harvey…" His attention is brought back by the surely demeanour of a balding man glaring at him.

"Louis?" He asks, sliding into a chair opposite the man's desk as he waits for the inevitable shoe to drop.

"Hows the Winston Merger?" He asks.

"Good. _Fine_." He says, looking away. _It's an uphill struggle. But nothing he can't handle..._

"Mike tells me that they're sticking their heels in?"

"Yeah. It's a walk in the park." He says.

"Hmm." Louis muses, his hands sliding together as his elbows rest on his desk. "Why do I not believe you?"

"Because you're paranoid. It's not exactly new information..."

"On the contrary Harvey… I am like the grasshopper. Poised and omniscient." He says, sitting poker-rod straight in his chair as his hands make some kind of motion that Harvey can't quite make out.

He stands up immediately, his head tilting as he gives Louis an unimpressed look. "Do yourself a favour and stay away from the self-help aisle, Yoda" He offers sarcastically, before wandering off into the hall.

"_Mmm, in need of coffee I am." _He says to himself, making a face.

OXOXOXOXO

* * *

><p>When she wanders towards his office, she's resolute that she's going to keep it brief, but honest. If she tries to lie, Cassie will only rat her out later - accidentally of course - and that will only create more tension than the situation is worth.<p>

"Hey Winnie… he's free right?" Donna asks his assistant.

Winne has been a pretty good match, by her own standards. Not too fussy, to the point and not actually single or interested. Plus she has respect for her, an understanding of their tenuous situation of ten years worth of marital laden baggage.

"Of Course, Ms Paulsen." Winnie says, smiling.

"Winnie, It's _**Donna**_." She clarifies, smiling back.

"Go right in," The young woman says, gesturing.

Her eyes pinpoint his form immediately. Buried in his work as usual. The sharp grey lines on his side burns catching the light of the bright sky behind him.

"_**Nice touch**_…" She says, observing him with a sharpness.

He looks up, covering his expression. "Hey," He says, observing her presence in his office. _The aqua coloured dress and red heels..._

"The cup?" She offers, giving him a look. _She knows exactly what he did..._

"I don't know what you're referring to." He says, utterly poker faced.

"Cute." She says, folding her arms.

"What do you need?" He asks; the 'shoptalk' look about him, as his jaw twitches.

"I need you to..._watch Cassie for me tomorrow night..._? I've checked your schedule with Winnie...and you're wide open. I need you to cover." She says, a serious note to her voice.

"Right. You okay? Is everything…?" He frowns, a collection of reasons forming in his head.

_She knew he'd press it. Press for the information._ "It's fine, Harvey. Everything's fine, I just...I'm going on...a..._a date_." She says finally, reluctantly.

"A date?" His face is a picture.

"Yes, Harvey. **A date**. You know? Those things people who aren't you go on?" She says, popping a hip.

"Donna," His face falls, his shoulders following suit.

"Just...babysit our baby for me?" She asks, stifling the huff on her lips.

"She's not a baby anymore, Donna." He says seriously.

"_Tell that to my uterus_." She remarks, huffing. "Will you?" She asks.

"Sure. Who's the uh...guy?" He asks.

There's something far too subtextual in his asking, She thinks to herself.

"You don't know him." She says defiantly, straightening.

"Don't I?" He asks, a slight tone of indignation on his lips.

"He's a lecturer...at Columbia." She says then, rolling her eyes. "One of Rachel's old friends. Not that I need to explain to you," She huffs.

"Right. Whatever." He shakes his head slightly, looking back to his paperwork.

"So..I'll drop her off at seven...with her things?" She asks, trying to right the ship by herself.

"Sure." He nods, looking back to his paperwork.

She finds herself chewing on her lip, until she reads him, the stiffening in his posture, the focus back to the work in front of him.

"Right." She says under her breath as she stalks out of the room.

OXOXOXO

* * *

><p>She shuffles in the elevator, the irony of the fact that she was spending most of each week either dropping Cassie off or picking her up from her old home. <em>His<em> Apartment. Irony certainly has it's moments...

She glances at herself in the mirrored walls, the red lipstick and sheer black dress highlighting her hazel eyes. _That and the amount of eyeliner she's chalked on. _

"You look pretty, Mom."

"Thanks sweetie." She says, playing with a curl on the girl's head. "So do you." She compliments, drawing in a breath as the elevator doors open.

OXOXOXOX

* * *

><p><em>He's not happy about the fact. Not one bit.<em>

But it was bound to happen eventually.

_A Date…_

The term has left a sear of bile to lash out against the top of his stomach.

The thought of her moving on ties him up in knots, even now. It's a sobering feeling, one he'd tried to dash with liquid and exercise since she'd first told him.

He hasn't brought a woman back since, though. And that in itself is a bad thing. _Celibacy wasn't the best idea when you're ex wife was potentially about to get it on with someone who wasn't you. _

But Donna was _**Donna**_.

_Effervescent. Flirtatious. Fiercely Independant. Fiery, as the Redhead in her desired..._

She would always do what she wanted. And this was what she wanted.

He sighs as a knock raps on the door, standing up slowly to wander down the hall in it's direction.

When he opens the door, Cassie runs past him.

"Hi Dad. Bye Dad." She calls behind her, running to her room.

"Hey kid." He says vacantly, his eyes connecting with Donna's.

He feels a rise in his stomach a flare up that has nothing to do with bile.

_She looks like the best bad decision anyone could ever make..._

"Hey…" Donna speaks first. "She knows I'll be out all night." She indicates to the running child, sprinting for her room.

"Right. You tell her?" He asks, trying to hold back the indignation.

"Just, that I'm seeing an old friend." She says, the words iced.

"Right." He says, nodding curtly, all the muscles in his back lining up one after the other as he stiffens, straightening to match her in her heels.

Her lips are red and violent and enticing in one fucked up little package. _He hates himself a little bit and her all the more. _

"I should go," She says, eyes wider as she clutches her purse in front of her.

"Yeah." He says. "Have a good night." He finds himself saying.

It's mechanical and filled with about as much sincerity as he can muster.

She smiles grimly, picking up on his lack of feeling. She looks briefly over his shoulder, thinking of Cassie.

"She'll be fine." He says half-heartedly. "Go or...you'll be late." He says.

She nods, quietly turning on her heel.

He watches her glossy form disappear all the way to the hall.

OXOXOXOXO

* * *

><p>In the elevator, the guilt sets in when she's sees the time on her phone.<p>

Seven Twenty Eight. _She's late._

She presses her speed dial, waiting for it to connect. "Hey...David. Sorry, I'm gonna be a little bit late. The traffic's horrendous." She says, stalking out of the building. "I'll see you soon."

OXOXOXOXO

* * *

><p>When she arrives at the Restaurant, she's immediately enveloped in low lighting, red candles on every table and a packed house. She slinks past the many tables until she spies the dark blonde hair and blue suit. She smiles to herself, relaxing a little.<p>

She slides up to the table. "Well, Hello there stranger." She says, her hip popping and her lips sparkling red.

The man looks up, smiling warmly. "You are_ very_ late," He observes, his voice light and playful as he stands, his arm snaking naturally around her waist. She's taken aback for a second, the feeling warming back in at his touch.

"Mother." She reasons. "Occupational hazard." She adds, her arms sliding up to rest on his shoulders.

"I missed you. I missed _this_." He says, kissing her soundly.

"Me too." She smiles, melting into him. "Sorry...I know you wanted to see me earlier. Its been a...busy couple of weeks." She smiles honestly.

"I understand. You have to get settled here." He says, as they disconnect, his hand gesturing for her to take a seat in their corner booth.

"So. Hows your day been?" She asks, a hand sliding into his hair.

"Busy. With the new influx of students it's a bit of a rat race. But nothing I can't handle." He says, looking at the wine list. "What shall I get us?" He asks.

"Anything. As long as it's alcoholic." She smiles against the slight nerve in her stomach.

It's good to see him.

Given that they've only talked on the phone a few times in the Months since he moved to the city. It's nice to just get back into the routine of dating one person regularly.

She's enjoyed their time together; his no nonsense approach to life and ability to condense a feeling. She'd known from the moment that Rachel introduced them that they'd get along solely by their ability to banter against one another.

She missed that. The effortlessness of just bouncing off another person of the opposite sex.

"You know what?" He says after dinner, looking at her. "I feel like we should celebrate."

"And what should we...celebrate?" She asks, her eyebrows twitching.

"I don't know...to you finally getting settled and catching up with me?" He offers.

She smiles immediately, blushing. "_**Oh David**_...this is _my_ city, remember? _You're_ the out of town'er," She plays, her finger pressing lightly into the dimple on his chin.

"Of course. I forget." He says, playing a dumbfounded look on his handsome face. "I should really get you to show me around some time." He offers, playfully.

"Maybe I will…" She agrees, sliding up to him. The alcohol is milling through her system at a rate that's making her loose and flirtatious. She's missed this.

"I was thinking, actually," He starts.

"Oh, now _that is_ dangerous," She jokes.

"Potentially,"

"What about? Pray, tell." She asks looking at him suggestively.

"**Us**." He says, plainly, searching her eyes.

She lessens the gulp in her throat. "What about us?" She asks.

"How we've been doing over the past few months."

"I know." She reflects. "Who knew I wouldn't get tired of you after six months?"

"I was sure that five would be your limit," He joins in, his arms stretching around the back of the booth.

"Especially with all the book reading you do." She adds, chiding him.

"And the talking in my sleep," He adds.

"And the correcting people's grammar." She says with a wicked smile.

"How _do_ you put up with me?" He asks, smiling at her,

"It's a constant struggle." She says, her eyes lighting up.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look right now?"

"Not yet you haven't," She smiles, rolling her eyes.

_He does that._ Surprises her. It's a little much. Even in it's perfect delivery...

She's never been used to that kind of honesty. That kind of compliment.

"You, are beautiful." He says.

"You're not so bad yourself." She says with a shy covering smile, combing a hand through his hair.

"I'm serious." He says, his smile straightening.

"You think I'm not? I've seen you naked remember?" She says.

"Ah...I forget. We really should do something about that," He says, his hand running through her hair.

"Oh yeah...enlighten me, Professor."

"Well. Intimacy, on many levels is on achieved in conjunction with proximity." He starts, his face taking on a seriousness.

"Fascinating." She says, humouring him. "And how does one achieve the correct level of proximity?" She asks, playing along as she slides a little closer to him.

She notices his eyes dart out into the crowd suddenly, before flicking back to hers with a knowing smile. _A knowing smile that he keeps all to himself._

"I ordered Champagne. I hope you don't mind?" He asks.

"Of course not. But you must know that you'll probably be carrying me home tonight, right?" She half-jokes, watching the waiter making his way over to them both.

"You say that like it's the first time." He jokes, looking up to the waiter. "Thank you." He says as the waiter hands over one glass, which he passes to Donna, before placing the other down along with the bottle on ice.

"Oh wait, I think this one is yours," He says, pushing the other glass towards her with an expectant smile.

She rolls her eyes, taking the glass, until she stops, her eyes frozen on the ring hanging from a red ribbon on the glass.

A Ring.

A_ Diamond _Ring.

_**A Large Diamond Ring…**_

"Oh my God." She says, looking to the man next to her, who starts to move. "No. Don't get up."

"I was actually going to get...down? I believe it's fitting for such an occasion." He adds.

"What is this?" She asks, the pressure resident and cracking in her voice.

"Donna. I know that it's soon, and we've only been dating officially for eight months, and I haven't even met your Daughter yet but… you have left.. **_an impression,_** on me. I was waiting for you to finally get here, and I know it's early days. But I...I want to spend my life with you, Donna Paulsen."

"Oh my God." She repeats, looking between him and the rock in her hand.

"Please stop saying that." He winces.

"I'm sorry… I just. _David_. Everything is.. kind of a mess right now. I just... _God_, this a lot," She says, the panic escaping her as she clutches her sides, feeling a rise in her temperature.

"You're in shock. Okay… Just take a second. You don't have to decide right now. I just…"

"I know." She winces, seeing his disappointed face as she struggles to breathe. "I...need some air." She says, honesty overtaking her.

"Okay," He says, sliding out of the booth. "I'll take you outside." He says.

"No...no don't worry..." She says hurriedly. "I just...need the bathroom. I'll just be a moment, okay?" She says, sliding up to stand. "I'll be_ right _back." She insists, all but streaking to the woman's restroom.

OXOXOXO

* * *

><p>When she finally stares into the mirror, her heart is racing. She turns on the cold tap, splashing a little cold water in her face. Thank god for up market restaurants, with separate fully equipped toilets; for all emotional emergencies.<p>

But her heart is still racing and the room is beginning to stifle her.

She does the worst thing she can possibly think of…

She darts out of the restaurant under the cover of almost darkness; a cab halting to a stop in front of her with dramatic timing.

OXOXOXOX

* * *

><p><strong><em>She doesn't go to Rachel and Mike's and she doesn't go home...<em>**

* * *

><p>OXOXOXOX<p>

She messages David a simple 'I'm sorry. I need time' and turns off her phone.

_I really am getting sick of this elevator_, she thinks, tapping the rail sharply as she waits for it to reach the correct floor.

Words aren't forming as she digs around in her bag for her keys, the ones that she shouldn't have but are still laced on her keyring with her new ones. She shoves the key into the lock with a practised precision, opening the door and shutting it quietly behind her.

Her heart is still pounding from the Restaurant as she kicks off her heels onto the carpet, sliding past Cassie's bedroom - their daughter's night-glow lit form still sleeping soundly in her bedroom.

She walks through the open door, shutting it carefully behind her as her heart beats heavily in her chest, turning back to see the whole of the Manhattan skyline surrounding them in his glass-walled bedroom. He's half naked, and stirring and then sitting up in his bed with a confused look on his face and hair sticking up at all angles.

"Donna, what the hell-" He says, squinting.

"Just shut up and kiss me," She drowns out his words with her lips, sliding onto the bed in her silk dress as her hands slide against his the planes of his face; rough and jagged from the five o'clock shadow on his angular features. He's taken aback for a fraction of a second, until her ingrained action has him relaxing against her and his tension shifting from his shoulders to his lower half, his hands sliding around her back and into her hair like he's being doing it for a decade

_He's not too far off..._

She moans when he pulls at her bottom lip like a quiet punishment for everything that's come after them. She rolls her head back as he kisses her neck, her settling on top of him in a pile as his hands thumb across her breasts, peaked and wanting to be touched. He sucks at the soft skin above her clavicle; pinching at her nipples as she inhales sharply, moaning at his touch. Her hands cup his shoulders, occasionally scratching at his back as he lowers her onto the bed, kissing her fully, before sliding down her stomach, a kiss for every inch of her body that he courses with a piqued remembrance.

**They don't talk.**

Not once, accept to react against one another.

It's messy and raw and filled with emotions that neither one can carry, riding towards the cliff of an orgasm to drop off the end like lemmings, _one after the other in quick succession_.

It's only when they are panting, breath slowing in irregular rhythms and laid next to one another that his brain allows him to wonder what the hell just happened.

When he looks over to her, she's asleep before he is, curled over on her side away from him.

He lays there, so satisfied and confused and angry all at once.

**_He feels like he's been dropped into the middle of the ocean._**

OXOXOXOXO

* * *

><p><em><strong>The world was on fire<strong>_

_**No one could save me but you**_

_**It's strange what desire will make foolish people do.**_

_**I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you. **_

_**I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you.**_

_**And I don't want to fall in love,**_

_**With You.**_

_OXOXOXXOXO_

* * *

><p><em>I wanted to play about with Donna and the differences between then and now. As always please feed the kitty! ~Atheniandream<em>


	5. Chapter 5

Notes: Apologies for the greatness of the lateness concerning updates. Life grabbed me by the balls but now I'm back! Hoping to update everything soon.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**CHAPTER 5**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

* * *

><p>The harsh light of day in it's many forms streak through the bedroom with a sharp grey attitude; and for a moment, before she turns over she imagines him standing over her at the side of the bed; that smirk of his, those sharp angles of his suit-clad shoulders dancing off the pearly grey of his sideburn with ambiguous words waiting for her.<p>

But when she turns, there's no one there. No angles. No smirk.

She sits up, wincing slightly at the booze head she's wearing and the barely there salmon pink slip she wore under her dress the night before. She reaches over to where her dress had been thrown; remembering the black silk hitting the window and pooling to the floor. She snatches at it; swinging her legs over the side of the bed as she throws back the covers, sliding her dress on and standing in one fluid motion as she wanders out into the lounge.

Still...no one.

She frowns, padding through the kitchen and into Cassandra's room,

_Again_...bed empty. School things gone. No little caramel headed child running around in there or looking at her with inquisitive eyes.

She glances towards the clock hanging in the lounge. The pit of her stomach drops as she reads the little hand.

It's Nine-Thirty. Cassie's at school.

_And she's thoroughly late for work..._

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

_Harvey Specter._

He can't help but deviate gradually from his work that morning; as he straightens in his chair; little snippets of the night before flooding his mind and flitting past at a half-rate. He straightens again, as if he's slumped somehow in the gap between recalling the feel of her silky skin and the many clusters of freckles that she has like pepperer like a map of lost constellations...

A pinch of anger shoots through him then, juxtaposing the warm feeling settling just below his gut.

He still doesn't have an answer for why she turned up so suddenly and so abruptly to jump into his bed at 1am in the morning.

He'd skipped out early, grabbing Cassie for an early breakfast in town and ushering her off to School so that she wouldn't ask why her Mother was currently laid, spread eagled in _his _bed like he was a rookie who had just gotten lucky in a packed college dorm.

It was a state of their relationship that he wasn't quite ready to escalate to just yet.

His interest piqued when a flash of red head rounded the corner of the hall.

But it wasn't her.

He rubbed his hands over his face, huffing to himself as the rise for a coffee made itself known with a rude gurgle erupting in his stomach.

Only then, and so fitting it be that she glide around the corner the moment he let his guard down just a bit; all flame haired, Louboutin heeled and Pale Peach Dior sharpness, her eyes strained on an invisible marker in front of her.

He stiffens, watching her pass past his office; deliberately ignoring him and disappearing further down the hall.

His need for coffee flares up with a prominence.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

"Thankyou." He says to the vendor outside; taking another bite out of his Cream Cheese Bagel as he gratefully accepts his steaming cup of black coffee. When he turns around, a pair of large brown eyes framed in lashes are staring at him with an odd humour in them.

"Hey." She says.

He almost chokes on his Bagel. "Donna, _what are you_-"

She interrupts, looking to the Vendor. "Hi. Can I get a Double shot Latte and a Non Fat Caramel Cappuccino _with cream_, please?" She asks, eyeing him and his trusty bagel as it dances precariously in one hand. "Coffee Break." She answers simply. He takes a foolish sip of coffee; covering a wince when it burns his throat with a sharp sear as she smirks, watching him struggle with the burn.

"Right. Listen, Donna-" He starts, the words blocking the growing anger in his chest.

She silences him before he can release it, a hand raising, as she hands the vendor a stiff twenty. "I'm sorry...about last night. Really." She says, all shop talk in her voice and barely

"You're..._sorry_?" He frowns, lowering his bagel; a flutter of annoyance reaching his fingers. "You came to my apartment in the middle of the night. With Cassie there. After a date. _And_…" He gestures, his usually crude ease of phrasing leaving his mouth empty and dry for a fleetingly fluke moment. He huffs, feeling inept. "Now, I know I'm the not pillar of modesty when it comes to seeing women, but you see what's wrong with that picture, right?" He asks heavily.

"You didn't seem to object last night." She accuses, letting the consonants of each word bend and flex for effect as she gives him a questioning look.

"_I _wasn't.._**we**_ were… Donna." He says, trying to belay a slight fluster with the firmness that her name brings him. "We have a good thing here...with Cassie and..._the arrangement_. This," He gestures. "Is a-"

"Bad idea. I know." She interrupts. "Which is why I'm here." She says, sighing as if it's all just too much effort. "Look..I'm said I'm sorry. It was impulsive and I just...needed comfort. I shouldn't have appeared like some lady of the night. But it happened." She shrugs.

"You practically broke into my apartment." He observes, his lip twitching.

"It was a...tough night." She sighs.

There's something in her eyes that piques his suspicion.

"Bad date, huh?" He jokes.

"Something like that." She says, faking a smile. "We're adults. We can deal with this...right?" She asks, inferring them with a coffee in each hand.

"Yeah. We can." He says, the words automatic.

"Good. I better go. Believe it or not, Mike get's crankier than you if doesn't get his coffee." She says, picking up the two steaming cups with a knowing look.

"Yeah...he's a whiny little girl." He agrees.

"Pigtails and everything." She says, taking in a breath. "And cute little curls." She adds, enjoying the moment.

"Can I...finish my bagel now?" He asks, the dry humour that is still one of the pillars of his famous yet waning reputation.

"You may." She says, a commanding tone as she flicks her hair behind her, turning on a heel.

"Donna," He says, the words falling out to catch her. She turns, her eyebrows lifting in question. "Whenever you need me to...look after Cassie...any time, okay? No questions asked."He says. "You don't even have to sleepover after."

"_Like you wouldn't enjoy it if I did_…" She plays, sashaying past him with a devilish smile.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

It's only a day or two later; when he's sat in his old office - _now Mike's_ - in a crisp blue armchair that he feels a specific kind of gaze on him.

"What?" He accuses tiredly, flipping open his suit jacket as he slides an icy glare towards it's owner.

"Nothing." Mike shrugs, feigning interest.

_It's the one thing that bothers him instantly. Pussying out... _"Out with it." He commands irritably.

"Out with what?" Mike shrugs, his hands in his pockets.

"Whatever...inane observation you feel you have to make. Out with it." He gestures.

"I was just going to say..._you and Donna_-"

"Oh no." He interrupts, a hand stopping the young man as he shakes his head, his eyes flicking to the empty space outside Mike's office. He relaxes immediately at the absence of the very hot topic of current conversation.

"What…?" Mike laughs, leaning back as he perches on the end of his table.

"It's not going to happen."

"What?" The younger man enquires, enjoying the reaction in front of him.

"I'm...we, are not talking about Donna and I." He replies abruptly.

"Why not? You're both my friends… I was only going to say-"

"Ahh!" Harvey calls out, objecting with a hand as he keeps his eyes trained on the paper in his other hand.

"But I-"

"Ahh!" He repeats, giving him a sharp glare to aid in his completely dislike of the chosen topic.

"You're a real jerk, you know that?" Mike smirks, hiding his annoyance as he wanders to sit at his desk.

"Don't bitch at me just because I don't want to discuss the status of my relationship with my ex wife-"

"There's...a...relationship?"Mike interrupts, leaning forward on his desk with a smirk.

"Ahh!" He says once more, a well trained razor sharp glare at his counterpart. "Do your work…" He grumbles. "Rookie…"

"Seriously?" His counterpart replies.

Both men are distracted as Donna glides into the room; clad in a sharp charcoal office dress and dark red heels that match her lips.

Harvey finds himself admiring her for a moment longer than he'd like to admit; until her eyes dart to his. "There's a call for you waiting at your office." She tells him.

"You realise you're not my assistant anymore, right?" He offers, an arrogant smile as his angular jaw twitches.

She glares at Mike before him for sheer effect. _She still does that. Only he's usually the butt of jokes more often than not._ "And Thank god. Your filing system is like a freudian nightmare. Your assistant's one misplaced file away from strike one." She warns.

"Surely, for you she's on strike two by now," He quips back, lifting his chin. _She's always had the highest standards of excellence. This woman should never be given the power to hire and fire anyone...ever._

She rolls her eyes, looking to Mike as she lifts a dark red painted finger. "And _**you**_, have a meeting with Kegelmann in twenty minutes. And I'm told he's still pretty pissed at you for _you know what_...so I ordered a selection of brunch items to stem his probably waning sugar levels and placate him during your meeting. Now, I'm going to lunch." She says, before spinning on her heel.

"God, she's good…" Mike says. "_How you ever let her go is beyon_-"

He pauses mid-sentence at the very blatant clearing of the throat that he hears from the occupant of said blue armchair.

"Right." Mike says, returning to the work in front of him. "_**Got it**_."

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

She's nervous...to say the least. Her hands are sweating, as she tries to keep them at bay by wiping them on her jeans.

"Mom, you okay?" Cassie asks, scrutinising her Mother in an adult fashion as she stirs her bowl of multi-coloured cereal, mixing the colours into an uneven grey-green.

"I'm fine sweetie." She assures her daughter her throat clicking as she abates a swallow.

In all honesty she's not fine. On the contrary she's incredibly nervous. And that in itself is groundbreaking, because Donna Paulsen is seldom nervous;. It seems to have appeared as a commonplace feeling in her life, this nervousness. She straightens when the doorbell rings, ruffling Cassie's hair as she passes her; the girl engrossed once again in the murky coloured milk left in her bowl.

When Donna opens the door, there's an apologetic smile waiting for the man standing there.

"Hey." He says.

"Hey...you got my message," She observes, sliding a hand into the back pocket of her jeans.

"I did. So..._shall we_?"

"Sure." She nods, letting him pass her. He pauses, his unruly blonde hair falling past one eye, as he kisses her cheek. It's chaste and so indicative of something he would do. She smiles slightly, walking ahead of him to reach Cassie.

"Cassie, sweetie?" She calls her daughter.

"Yeah Mom?"

"This is my friend...David. _David_," She indicates. "This is my daughter, Cassie."

"Hey." She says, looking the man up and down as he draws closer.

"Hi Cassie." David says, waving at Cassie.

"Well… I'm just gonna…" She says, sliding off of the breakfast stool.

"Uh, excuse me missy," Her mother calls, catching her before she can disappear down the hall.

She looks round to see her mother pointing to the bowl she's left. She quietly sighs, grabbing her bowl and depositing it in the sink before slinking off into her bedroom.

Donna turns around, her eyes locking with David's.

"You okay?" He asks, touching her elbow.

It's only then that she realises she's been chewing her lip during the entire exchange.

A nugget of doubt digs around in her gut as she feigns her best poker face. "I'm fine. Why?"

"She's...nice." He says, smiling softly.

"She's wary of strangers." She explains, chewing on her lip once more.

"Of course." He says, his hands sliding around her shoulders. "She just has to get used to me. She needs time." He says deftly.

"Yeah. Of course." She nods, accepting the comfort.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

She gives it up when they're sat on a bench in central park, eating icecream.

"Dad," Cassie asks her father, looking over the top of her mint choc chip and cherry pie laden icecream cone.

"Yeah?" He says idly.

"Mom had a friend round the other day." She says.

"Right. Someone new?" He asks, pausing in between his timely devouring of his own coffee flavoured treat - he figured why not combine a childs best passion with his own - to blink in her general direction.

"Yeah. I think he was..._more than a friend_."

"Oh. You mean like a…."

"Boy...friend."

The word grates slightly. Something sour about it. He tries to swallow it along with the melting bitter coffee flavour in his mouth. "What makes you think that?" He asks, his tone automatic.

"Just a feeling." She shrugs, her mouth catching a runny drop of greenish-pink melted cream.

She wipes her mouth, looking to her father. "I saw them holding hands."

He stops for a moment. A thought occurring.

At this point he has two choices. Three, if you count _probing his daughter for information_. But he gathers that at this point it's probably not the best choice, when carving out a pretty solid relationship - thus far - with his daughter.

He opts for the higher moral ground.

"Right." He sighs, crunching on his cone. "What did you think of him?" He asks her.

"I think he has a stick up his butt." She says, causing Harvey to gulp a mouthful of ice cream as he laughs. "But he's okay, I guess." She says evenly.

"Right." He nods, taking another bite of his cone. "A stick, huh?" He enquires, smiling to himself.

"He's not like you." She says.

_It hits him like a ten tonne weight right to his heartstrings._ He recovers remarkably quickly, smiling widely. "Well, of course not, kid. I'm your Dad." He says, ruffling her hair. "There's only one Harvey Specter." He says, the gussy about him.

She smirks then, settling back to her rather runny ice cream. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Nope. Only one special girl." He says, looking at her. "And she's covered in ice cream." He observes with a smile.

The thought plays on his mind well into their Sunday, especially when she's gone to sleep and he's left alone in thought.

He doesn't go to bed that night, instead settling on the couch in the lounge.

There are far less memories there…

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

They've been play fighting in her bed for an hour now.

"Marry me." He says, pinning her playfully to the bed by her legs, his hair falling across his face like a school boy.

"You already said that." She says, giggling slightly when his fingers jab at her ribs. "Stop-Stop sto-Ahh!" She says in a machine gun sputter.

"Yes. And you haven't given me an answer yet. I_t's been three weeks, Donna_." He points out, tickling her more when she cries out in a half-laughing protest.

Somewhere between her panting and sitting on his chest he's kissing her, mumbling the request against her lips. "Marry me. Marry me…" He says, his fingers combing through her hair.

She stops, sitting up, to look at him. This persistent man who she sees no signs in of giving up.

"Okay. I'll marry you." She says, huffing dramatically.

His face falls, a little frown forming. "Well, now that doesn't seem so certain. 'Okay? I'll marry you?'" He gawps, his fingers finding her sides once more.

"Oh-Okay." She says, struggling for breath and high pitched against his assault of her ticklishness. "Yes! Yes! I'll marry you!" She says, as his hands still, her fingers flattening against his chest. "I'll marry you." She smiles, kissing him soundly.

They settle for a moment, quiet and calm and as tranquil as she'll ever find like, she thinks.

"But first.." She says. "I have to tell my daughter. Make sure she's…" She eyes him, hoping he's catching on.

"Of course." He says, nodding and smiling.

"Don't tell me." She says, arching an eyebrow as she looks up at him. "You have the ring in your coat pocket?" She accuses, a humour in her eyes.

"Does my jeans count?" He offers sheepishly, a hand digging into his pocket to fish out the once offending ring.

_And there is it_… she thinks, staring at it in his palm. In all it's life setting glory.

A diamond ring to end all diamond rings...

She swallows, letting the feeling of the moment settle into her bones.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**_A Month Later:_**

This is her second mistake of the year.

_Not _telling Cassie.

And wearing the ring instead.

She doesn't wear it constantly. If anything, she barely wears it, avoiding it at home and around her daughter at all costs.

She does however keep it in the top drawer of her desk at work. Under lock and key.

She's sure there's something very wrong and twisted about the action; but it's the place she spends the most time, and a place where all her other secrets were ever kept.

Right now it's on her ring finger, glittering under the fluorescent lighting above her desk, it's facets twisting and turning glimmers of spectrum within it's setting.

It's a beautiful ring. Not as beautiful as…

She realises then.

Harvey…

_Harvey doesn't know about David. _

Sure, he knows about her supposedly falling back into the dating pool.

But he doesn't know this.

"What the-"

She jolts her head back, looking up to see a gawping Louis. She frowns immediately, sitting upright and ignoring the ring on her hand. "Louis! What are you doing?"

"You're…" He says, under his breath, his wide eyes looking back to the young man behind him; as if he's checking that a certain other man isn't presently with them. He looks back, analysing Donna's sharpened expression in a rare moment of omniscience.

"Have you told Harvey yet?" He asks, leaning in.

She shakes her head slowly, her heart wriggling in her chest.

"Mike?" He presses, the words commanding.

"No." She says, her mouth forming into a grimace. She wouldn't dare tell Mike. That start a very precarious ball rolling.

He nods then, pushing off of the high counter that rests between them as if he's come to some sort of agreement she's not aware of. "If you want your situation to remain stable; then as your lawyer, I recommend you tell your Ex Husband."

"_Tell him what_?"

The words stiffen the air, as she covers one hand slowly, watching Louis try to ignore the very casual looking man in his nearly ten thousand dollar suit.

Her eyes flick up to see Mike.

"What is it?" Mike presses, looking between them. "Donna?" He asks her.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

Thought I would leave it there! Nice little cliffhanger for you :evil face:


	6. Chapter 6

Notes: OMG the world swallowed me whole! BIGGEST thankyou to all people who fed on this for far. So behind but we're moving forward hopefully the next chapter will be bigger. It's gonna be a ride people!

* * *

><p>VVVVVVVVVV<p>

CHAPTER 6

VVVVVVVVVV

"Donna?" Mike repeats. "What's going on?" He asks, observing her.

It's only when his eyes flash to her hand resting on the counter that she inhales, withdrawing it quickly under her desk.

"Louis," She says, her eyes boring into Mike's growing surprise as it merges into concern. "I need a moment with Mike." She says, clearing her throat.

Louis nods quietly, retreating down the hall without a word.

She stands, indicating towards his office as she glides expertly past him. She takes care to hide her left hand ever so slightly behind her right.

When he sits at his desk, very unlike himself, she remains standing.

"Donna," He says tenderly, his eyes looking kindly to her. "I saw the ring."

"What ring?" She enquires, her features blanching.

_It's none of his business really_, she thinks. _This is work and that is not and who is he to merge the two..._

"Look, it's none of my business," He says, his hands defensive as they clash with his soft expression.

She smirks; a short agreement falling between them.

_She feels the 'but' coming a mile off..._

"But I'm kind of stuck in the middle of you two, here and,"

"Mike. I'm engaged." She says tiredly.

"_**To**_?" There is a ripe indignation in his voice.

"Mike," She pleads carefully. "I need time to tell him."

He sighs, resting back in his chair. A gambit of emotions cross his face as he looks about the office.

_In that single moment he resembles his predecessor almost entirely_.

Finally, he nods. "Okay."

She nods in reply, standing.

"Donna?" Mike calls after her.

His voice isn't entirely a surprise. She turns, doubt etching on her features.

"He's been happy, you know? Since you and Cassie came back?" He says sincerely.

The blood drains from her face. "Stay out of it, Mike." She warns carefully.

It's enough to silence him, as she glides out of his office.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

The short interchange between her and Mike niggles at her more than she would like. Something saccharin and distasteful about Mike's immediate stance in the issue. She sighs, reasoning that Mike is only trying to protect the peace at this point.

And so he should. He and Harvey haven't always stuck together, but when it mattered most they have been there for one another. And really, she wouldn't have it any other way.

She lowers the box she's carrying onto the file room floor, the ring catching her eye once more. She straightens her fingers, watching the diamond setting glisten still under the horrible fluorescent lighting.

"Working hard as always,"

The moment she hears his distinctive drawl she feels the blood rush out of her face and settle to her toes. She covers her ring bearing hand, moving a file about in the process.

"That's what you pay me for." She replies ruefully, a slight smile easing onto her lips as she takes in her Boss, Former husband, and the man whose bed she all too recently vacated.

"Mike said you wanted to...tell me something?" He asks evenly, his hips jutting out as his hands slide into the pockets of his expensive Armani suit.

_Has he noticed the ring?_, she wonders, her body language poised then.

"Not here. How about dinner?" She offers, straightening.

He's oddly taken aback for a second before recovering with a blatant smirk. "_A 'date'_?" He questions, dramatically.

She gawps, his unresisting humour catching her nerve. "No Harvey. Just two friends eating food."

"That's always been a date in my book."

"Which is why you're _still _single." She chides. "I'll pick you up outside at seven thirty?"

"Aren't you going to pick me up at my apartment?" He smirks.

"Funny."

"You'd make a lousy guy."

"Make a better man than _you_." She scoffs.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

She wrestles with what to wear. Something nice but not too nice. Something demure and slutty enough to make her feel fabulous, but not too much as to rouse his interest.

He loves legs, shoulders and and he used to love her hair; so she resolves to put it up in a bun and hide everything, in an Elie Saab black number, skin tight and slightly asymmetric at the front as is drops, long and straight to the floor.

As she looks in the mirror, kohl rimmed eyes and fully dressed in black, making her hair look like fire,

_She thinks this is about as close as she'll ever get to dressing for battle._

When the cab pulls up to the firm, she wonders where he is, street vacant and no car waiting. She huffs, paying the cab driver before sliding out onto the sidewalk.

"You're late."

She spins round at the sound of his voice, and almost laughs in his face when she's confronted with a bouquet of her favourite flowers. In fuschia pink.

"This is _not_ a date, Harvey." She warns, reservation on her face.

"What? Can't I buy my ex-wife some flowers?" He says, the humour evident in his voice.

She smiles then, her eyebrow twitching as she tries not to recount how many bunches of flowers he's given her over the years. Far too many to count.

"Thankyou." She says finally, eyeing Ray trying to look nonchalant in the driver's seat of his Lexus.

"**Shall we**?" He offers, opening the car door.

She rolls her eyes. _He's up to something_, she wagers.

**_Call it Magic_**

**_Call it true_**

**_I Call it Magic _**

**_When I'm with you_**

**_And I just got broken_**

**_Broken into two _**

**_Still I call it Magic_**

**_When I'm next to you_**

**_And I don't and I don't and I don't and I don't _**

_**Want anybody else but you...** 'Magic' By Coldplay_

_VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV_

_VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV_

Eleven Madison Park is one of her favourite restaurants to date; located at Gramercy & Flatiron, with its art deco design and lavish floor to ceiling windows and accompanying some of the most beautiful food she's ever seen, it makes for a perfect setting for them to have this very important conversation of conversations.

If she could only stop the inappropriate butterflies erupting in her stomach like she's swimming through an Anna Sui advertisement.

He leads her through to the dining room, a pre-booked reservation giving them a booth in the corner. The lighting lowers as it approaches eight, calming her nerves as she slides into a seat to meet him around the other side of the table.

They browse the menu in silence, that kind of resolving silence between two people who have heard each others heartbeats and know the facets of one another's body language for more than a decade.

Trouble is, this time he's quicker than her.

"Are you nervous?" He accuses, enjoying the scrutiny.

"Of you? _Never_." She says, painting on the best look of disbelief that she can.

"_Come on Donna_, cut the crap. What's going on?" He says, almost peering into her.

"Let's just… have dinner. I'm starving," She says, belying the still prominent butterflies coursing through her.

She breathes a silent sigh of relief when their pre-ordered drinks arrive with a timeliness.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

"Oh my god! You remember that!?" She squirms, laughing into her glass of wine.

"Of course I do. You were covered in green stuff, and he just stood there, eyes wide open, slack jawed, mumbling something about 'quick reflexes'."

"I had to throw that dress in the trash. Nine hundred dollars of Prada - ruined by Kale!" She laughs, trying to picture the style of it through the haze of green goop.

Before she knows it, they're drunk and reminiscing about more old Louis stories and singling out people in the restaurant to make fun of.

It's too easy with him. Merging into old habits like this. Old habits do truly die hard.

She's beguiled at how easy it is to remove the past few years of their relationship and return to their ease of dealing with one another like they used to.

He smiles for a moment, a thought fleeting across his face before it's lost again.

"What?" She asks, leaning forward.

"Nothing," He shakes his head, trying to downplay it.

"No Harvey...what?" She presses.

He sighs heavily. "I...miss this."

"Miss what?"

"This," He gestures between them. "We always _could_ talk." He observes, a twitch in his cheek.

Her stomach drops a notch. "Yeah. We could. Until….we couldn't." She sighs.

"Donna," His face falls, as she watches him prepare for a backlash.

"Harvey," She says, solemnly. "The past is the past. We have Cassie to think of now." She reminds him.

He shuts down then. She watches his face mask into it's usual cover.

_But she's right. She usually is about these things..._

His expression changes when a waitress walks past, piquing his interest, as he orders two more drinks for them.

She finds her posture relaxing, sliding backwards into the seat, as she dances a finger around the rim of her glass.

"You look… different in that dress." He points out, rousing her interest as he observes her skin tight form.

"_**That was the point**_." She replies stiffly, swallowing the slight blush on her cheeks as she straightens again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asks, his eyes narrowing.

"_What's that supposed to mean_?" She scoffs. "_**That**_, Harvey, is supposed to mean that _**this**_," She gestures between them. "Is _**not**_ happening again." She warns, watching realisation dawn on his face as he starts to enjoy the moment.

She feels a frown silence her as he leans across the table, slowly and assuredly sliding a hand towards hers.

"If I wanted to..._I could make it happen again_." He wagers, grinning at her cockily as he leans back, taking a sip of his fresh whiskey.

"I think you're forgetting that it was_ me_ who jumped _you_ last time."

"A gentleman always returns the favour," He offers.

She shakes her head, rolling her eyes at his forwardness.

When his eyes finally meet hers again they're looking at her in that way that used to make her toes curl and her heart protest ever so weakly.

"Harvey. **No**." She states, pointing rudely at him.

"Why not?" He asks playfully.

"Because I…" Her heart immediately sinks like a scarlet letter.

_Have a boyfriend_.

"What?"

"I…" She mutters.

_I'm engaged, _she tells herself.

"Look, Donna...I know...about the guy. You had Cassie meet him." He suddenly says.

Her face falls then. "She...told you?" She stares, disbelief at his already knowing.

"Yeah." He says. "I think she was worried you were trying to replace her Dad." He says with an honest smile.

_He doesn't know how close to the truth he really is…_

"No, Harvey. Never." She insists. "You know I would never do that."

"I know..." He nods, sucking in a breath. "So, that's what you wanted to tell me?" He enquires.

"Yeah. It's getting kind of...serious, and I just…"

With every lie she feels herself shed like a snake.

_And what a horrible person she is..._

"I get it." He says, interrupting her. She watches the quiet distaste mutate into contempt on his handsome face and suddenly she just...doesn't want to push it.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

The cab ride home is awkward. Something tangible in the air between them as they ride through the quieter streets of familiar Manhattan. Her eyes flick to Harvey's face, watching him, immersed in the quiet lines of his sharp jaw, the etched planes of cheekbones and chin that make him so distinct against the amber lamp lit roads.

The cab begins to halt outside her building, that awkward impulse to move halted by the cabs slowing stop.

She gets out her side, landing on the sidewalk as he meets her, leading her to the door.

She doesn't realise how drunk she is until she's met with the cool night air, flooding through the bouquet in her hands and right through her coat.

She knows she's definitely drunk when her heel quivers and he automatically reaches for her, His hand wrapping around her elbow and another at her waist as she struggles on one foot.

It's lackadaisical of her and one of the worst choices she's probably going to make at this point, as she sways forward, pressing her lips into an open pout.

He smiles, stepping forward so that their breath mingles in the tiny space between them.

"Donna," He says her name like it's an answer to a question she didn't even know she was asking. "What'cha doin'?" He whispers, that come hither stare betraying his enjoyment in this completely forbidden moment.

She smirks, putting two fingers in her mouth. For a second, there's a shocked, slightly excited look on his face, until she wolf whistles like a builder, a cab halting next to them. He chuckles, watching her stalk towards the cab, before whipping around and turning back to him.

She pulls his coat, beckoning him with her as she slides into the cab.

"Where to?" She driver asks.

"Central Park West." She calls out, plonking the bouquet behind her before grabbing the lapels of his coat roughly, a confused expression on his face. She kisses it away, the rational part of her brain throwing itself to the dogs when he reciprocates.

The entire journey, he is tempered like running water; measured and careful with her like she's glass. It's frustratingly Harvey of him. _It always did drive her crazy..._

They trip out of the cab almost, wandering like unruly teeagers into his building.

It's only when they slide into the elevator that they disconnect, breathless and foolish and fighting the rigors of age as he looks to her.

"We shouldn't…" He starts, struggling with words she already hears.

"I'm not sleeping with him." she says, detached from the words.

"Really?" He frowns, taken a back.

"No." She says, looking away for a moment as she struggles with the meaning.

It's only then, when she starts to doubt the choices she's made, fighting in her head against the twisting feeling in her abdomen, that he pins her to the wall, pulling her arms above their heads. It's rough and electricity filled and he's looking at her like she's to blame for it all.

_Which she is. _

But right now she doesn't care about a thing, except the feeling of his teeth and tongue and breath on her skin.

_And if you ever have to go away _

_Nothing in my world could ever be the same _

_Nothing lasts forever, but together til the end _

_I'll give you everything I have again and again_

_'Cause I believe In you, 'Believe' by Kylie._

_VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV_

_VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV_

When she wakes in the morning, it's another strict case of Deja Vu. With a bigger headache and the same view.

The Light. The Bed. _The snoring…_

She double takes, her unfocused gaze falling on the hand that rests a mere inch from her face; the lines around the back of his thumb all the way up to his very clean cut nails that she usually makes fun of just to keep him on edge.

Two chocolatey brown eyes square against hers, a tired smirk hiding underneath.

She sighs, hiding her face with her hands, as she feels the hand move a little closer.

"Harvey, stop." She pleads weakly in protest, her hands moving just an inch to look at him as he all but climbs on top of her, settling between her bare legs with a very prominent need.

"But I'm _so_ good at it," He all but purrs, enjoying the feel of her.

She stifles the sensation that his hands encourage, expertly grazing around the edge of her breasts; his cold nose touching the edge of her jaw as he plants a kiss along her neck.

_They're both going to hell..._

"**Mom**? _Dad_?" A voice suddenly says.

Her heart stops, as she looks around Harvey to the caramel curls and expression that reminds her of him, as she pushes the man in question off of her.

"Cass?" Harvey says, his voice still thick with sleep as he takes in Donna's alarmed look with a dash of enjoyed humour, laying out in the bed with a mock confidence as he adjusts himself under the cover of the quilt.

"What are you doing?" Cassie says, looking between her parents.

"How did you get here?" She asks her daughter, looking briefly to Harvey.

"It's Saturday, Aunt Rachel dropped me." She shrugs. "What are you two doing?" She repeats, starting to frown suspiciously.

"We're just…talking, honey." Harvey finally pipes up; glancing briefly at Donna who just rolls her eyes.

"Talking...naked?" Cassie says, minorly confused.

"Yes." Harvey says non-committally, a frown falling very slowly onto his features.

"You two are...having sex, aren't you?" Cassie asks.

"Not right now we're not." He smiles wryly, looking to Donna for direction. All she gives him is a dead-panned frown. He turns his attention back to Cassie, a pretend anger on his face. "And what do you know about sex, little lady?"

"Stuff." Her nose twitches in defense. "I know that's what you guys are having." She says, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Please … go in the lounge. _Now_." Donna says tiredly.

"Okay…please don't be loud." Cassie says clinically, calling behind her, like a little probation worker.

"Okay honey. Shut the door behind you. And turn the tv on. **Put it on loud**." Harvey calls to her through the screen doors.

"Well… we are _**not **_doing this now…" Donna says, patting the duvet around her, as if to section off the bed and Harvey's reputation for eagerly wandering hands.

"Why not?" Harvey asks, irritation in his voice.

"Because our child is outside the door." She points out roughly, gesturing towards the door, "You Creep."

"Not right now she's not." He says with a waggle of an eyebrow, ignoring her insult.

"Ugh… no. I can't. I divorced you for a reason." She frowns, folding her arms.

"Maybe you made...a mistake?" He offers playfully.

"I don't make mistakes." She fires back.

"And last night was…?" He enquires, perching up on one elbow. "_**Not**__ a mistake_?"

"I was drunk." She says simply.

"Sure, blame it on the alcohol." He remarks.

"We have chemistry, Harvey. And a child. Worst things have happened at sea," She says, gesturing at him.

_She is a horrible person. In so many ways it seems like they've role-reversed._

"Fine." He says, laying back down on the bed.

"Wait a minute…" She says, frowning when something digs idly into her back.

"What?" He asks.

She pulls out a small platinum gold earring, with large diamond set out of the frame of the bed.

"Oh my...god. I've been looking for this for…"

"Nine years?" He quips, arching an eyebrow.

"Maybe five. And it's been in your bed the whole time? You have a five year old mattress? How did you not notice this?"

"It's comfortable. And that's not my side..." He shrugs. "That's really not that long. And I think it's...ten years, at the most."

She shudders, sitting up. "It's probably riddled with so many things...too many things… and from the women who have slept in it after me. Ugh."

"There haven't been that many after you." She hears him say.

"The Barbie?" She enquires, her hair whipping around her.

He gives her a look. "Two others. I never let any of them come here."

"Why not?"

"Because this was..." He pauses, an annoyed expression falling onto his features.

_"What, Harvey?" She frowns._

_"Our home, Donna. This was __**our**__ home._" He says finally, rolling his eyes as he pulls on his boxers.

"Harvey. This was your apartment, long before it was our home." She says, looking around for her slip.

"_**You still **_picked it out." He shrugs, standing.

"Stop pulling us backwards." She says, snapping slightly at him as the irritation gets into her voice, her hands flicking the quilt cover over the bed.

"Stop dividing us out," He fires back, keeping his shout to a minimum, the frustration etching his face. "Look Donna, I know that deep down, you're still angry with me, I accept that, but… there's a reason why you're here right now. _**For the second time**_...why Cassie is sat in the lounge, _our _lounge; most likely dismantling the universal remote into tiny pieces as we speak."

"Harvey. It's not good for her. Or us, to be together. You know that." She says, pulling the cover around.

"Actually, I think that's exactly what she needs." He counters, pulling on his t-shirt.

"She's needs it, or _you_ need it?" She accuses.

"Is there any difference?"

"Harvey, just stop," She says, gesturing sharply.

"If you remember, I tried to fight for you. But you were _so_…angry at me."

"Because you forgot us, Harvey!" She snaps then.

She's had enough. It's unlike him to push this. To push her. And she's not in the right frame of mind to think further than the foot of the bed.

"What?"

"You just….**forgot about us**!"

"Donna. Look, _Scottie was_-"

"Don't you **DARE** say her name!" She spits at him, pointing once again as her eyes glance out to the direction of the lounge.

"Donna..."

"I should...go." She says, huffing. "We should go."

His eyes flash then, taking a step forward. She can see the anger on his face that he tries so hard to temper. "Let her stay here. It's the weekend." He tries to reason.

Oddly it seems like a good idea. A weekend off. Time to...fix things.

"Fine." She sighs, walking out of the bedroom to find her dress and say goodbye to her inquisitive child.

He dives into the shower to avoid her.

**_You're gone and I gotta Stay High,_**

**_All the time_**

**_To keep you off my mind, ooh_**

**_High, all the time,_**

**_To keep you off my mind, ooh_**

**_Spending my days locked in a haze_**

**_Tryin' to forget you Babe_**

**_Don't forget I'm missing you._ **- Tove Lo 'Stay High'

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Sorry about the greatness of the lateness.


	7. Chapter 7

Notes:

_Thanks for the reviews guys! I've been so out of it, trying to make it up with another chapter._

_I wanted to comment on something that one of the reviewers said - Anon in this, as it was a very constructive review, it got me thinking - __**about Harvey never doing what his mother did, and his moral code in that regard and the reasoning for the divorce i.e. Harvey possibly cheating.**_

_This is an AU fic. If I wrote it completely true to the character's I'd end up somewhere like I have in previous fics. I'm shaking it up a little, like versions of these people. If you want a more obvious plot then best to look away now and go to my previous ones - this one's gonna go for a leetle ride! ;-) A xXx_

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CHAPTER 7

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When she stares into the mirror, she wonders just who it is that is staring back at her these days.

Her reflection's not really changed that much in ten years. Sure, there are more laughter lines, and her frown line has deepened and her hair is a little brighter to match her ageing reserve. But she's pretty much the same.

On the inside, though….she's changed. Too much.

She looks at the world a little differently. _He taught her that…_

_She's not entirely sure what she's doing,_ she thinks to herself, rubbing some of yesterday's make-up from her eyes.

Maybe it's a classic mid-life crisis?_ A '__Visite du cœur'…_

_**She wonders where her husband is...**_

_It's a strange notion, that, having a husband. She peers out into the ballroom - The Grand Ballroom to be exact, over the elegantly matched table arrangements and peach rose bouquets scattered about the place. _

_He'd chosen well, she thinks to herself; The Waldorf Astoria. The Dream. _

_She watches people gathering and talking amongst themselves. She finds it entertaining that at her own wedding she's actually managed to skim the walls and take an opportune moment to people watch: her favourite vocation._

_But he was nowhere to be found. _

"_So, who are we spying on?" _

_She feels the tickle of words against her ear and immediately smiles, not daring to break her undeniable cool as she slowly looks towards him. _

"_Are you creeping up on me?" She asks, wrestling that overly fluffy warmth that seems to have emanated from her since the day had first begun. _

_He shrugs in his way, sidling up to her, his hand connecting with the middle of her bare back. "Do I need an excuse to accost my wife?" He asks, his face blank of expression. _

_She grins, batting at his chest before double taking to the knot of his tie, a tut falling out of her mouth. "Really? At your own wedding?" She accuses, pointing to his tie with an admonishing look._

_His mouth moves into a smile then, proudly straightening as she assaults him with busy polished fingernails. "Mike's fixed it five times already." He remarks._

"_That kid can't tie his own shoelaces." She remarks._

"_Well I couldn't come ask you, could I?" He defends, watching her. _

_She smiles then. giving the tie on last stroke of approval. She looks up to see him observing her, all sudden cuddliness about him that she supposes he'll only let her see. She wonders for a moment what would happen if someone butted into their two person bubble. Would he snap back to his old self with a deference? The though entertains her._

"_We got married today." He tells her, his hands falling to her chiffon wrapped hips._

"_Did we? I thought this was your fortieth?" She says flippantly, making him chuckle. "Am I overdressed for this?" She jokes, mock alarm on her face._

"_Have I told you how hot you look yet?" He asks, his eyes roaming over peach layered chiffon and pale bare shoulders. _

"_No. I was beginning to think you didn't like the dress." She says playfully, leaning into his slate coloured suit._

"_Fishtail, ruffled chiffon, Peach? Backless. What's not to love?" He plays._

"_Okay_, _You need to stop reading my Vogue's in the bathroom. Seriously." She tells him, her wide eyes giving him a look._

"_What? Metro-sexuality is hot these days." He pouts deliberately. _

"_Is that what your boyfriend told you?" She jokes, looking to towards Mike, who manages, nay through a sea of people to give them both a look. She waves brightly at the kid._

"_I'll go down on you in front of all these people." He threatens, dead-panned, as he pinches her ribs, causing her to laugh, heartily and outright. _

_She pulls his hands, blushing. "Come on husband, dance with me." She says, tugging at his willing hand._

She doesn't know if she can have another wedding.

She doesn't know why.

Something about re-treading old ground.

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Harvey is left horny and annoyed all day. Despite two rather long and somewhat productive showers.

It's extremely inappropriate when you'd rather be concentrating on enjoying a weekend with your daughter.

At the Guggenheim.

He blames it entirely on her mother, and proudly assumes that cliché for the rest of the day.

"Dad?" Cassie asks as they wander around the Kandinsky exhibit; of which until today he had no idea had a_ 'pre-abraction' era…._

"Yes, kid?" He asks, looking down at a panda hat and unruly hair.

"Are you dating Mom?" She asks him.

The mere mention or reference of the particular redhead has him stifling an unamused groan.

"No Cass. I'm not dating your Mother." He answered tiredly.

"But she was sleeping in your bed?" She accuses.

"We had dinner yesterday, to talk about things," He explains.

"'Me' things?" She asks.

Another reference of his ex wife. _The kid was far too perceptive for a five year old._

"Kinda. And we were both drunk and tired, and I let her...sleep in my bed."

"Just sleep?" She asks, that innocent want for clarification in her eyes.

"Just sleep." He lies perfectly.

"Scouts honour?"

"You're not a scout." He says, narrowing his eyes on a whim.

"So?" She shrugs, stopping mid stride.

"Never mind." He says, chuckling to himself. "Come on kid, let's get some lunch." He says, beckoning her as she falls in step with him. "You gonna ask your Mom about all this too?"

"Probably not." She remarks.

_Typical, _he thinks, silently scoffing to himself.

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When Sunday afternoon comes around, Donna's cleaned the house twice; spent more than a hefty amount on her credit card and watched enough daytime television to make her brain dribble out of her ears. To say that she's on edge when four o'clock comes around is an understatement.

She hears the knock, preparing herself as she wanders to the door.

She opens the door to a running child and a man whose natural smoulder finds her a little counter productive in the moment.

"Hi Mom," She hears from the running child down the hall, the sound of a bag dropping mid way.

"I gather you two had fun?" She asks, observing Harvey's sharp lines even in casual wear.

"Guggenheim." He shrugs casually.

"Ah." She smiles. "Kandinsky?" She asks, watching him nod in reply. "She's studying him in school at the moment." She explains, folding her arms.

"Yeah, I got the five point lecture." He says smiling at the remembrance of his over excited and informative little Art Gallery Docent. "Listen, can we...talk for a moment?" He asks, gesturing outside.

"Okay." She says, following him outside, as she grabs a turquoise pashmina hanging on the coat hook before pulling the door to.

There's a weird air around them as they stand outside.

She feels like a sixteen year old, post fight with her boyfriend, being made to listen to a weak apology.

_If only it were that simple… Or that way around..._

"Listen. Eventually we need to talk." He gestures between them.

"Harvey...I'm sorry for bringing it up, okay? I was startled that our child was in the building, and in your bedroom...you were almost inside of me. I… I panicked. I screwed up."

"Donna," He frowns at the distinct reminder of his lack of morning conquest.

"Harvey. We need to be adult about this."

"Well, I'm trying, if you'll just let me get a damn word out!" He says, looking at her pointedly.

"Sorry. You go." She says, gesturing towards him.

"You can't keep jumping into my bed." He says matter of factly.

"I know." She nods.

"Not if you don't ever want to talk about the past."

"I know." She agrees, wrapping her arms about herself.

He squints for a second. Judging every simple answer against the indescribable look on her face.

"And you're...dating someone? Now, I don't know if it's serious_ or not_,"

"It is," She regrets the words as they fall out of her, shutting her mouth instantly.

"Right." He says, nodding thoughtfully. "You haven't...slept with him, though?" He clarifies, his eyebrows knitting together as confusion sets in.

_She can almost feel him smelling a rat..._

"Look, Harvey. It's serious. And you're right. About everything. I've...coming back here has been hard, and you make that oddly easier. And from now on you'll get no more evening visits from me. I promise." She says, watching him digest everything. "It's not good for Cassie. We need to...establish better ground. More...platonic ground."

"Right." He says, nodding once more.

She frowns when she notices a tightness in his lower lip.

"Are we good?" She asks.

"Yeah," He says, giving her a blanket smile. "I'll uh...see you tomorrow."

"Okay." She says, watching him wander down the block, that sinking feeling in her stomach making itself known.

_She wonders if she's been making him pay for the past this entire time._

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

_How can you mend this broken man_

_How can a loser ever win?_

_Somebody please mend my broken heart_

_And let me live again._ 'How do you mend a broken heart' by Al Green.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

He wanders the city, a little numb and a little cold in the late spring air, as the proverbial of such lacks in his every step.

_He wonders when it all go so hard. He wonders how 'before' seemed easier..._

He remembers when he fucked up, that's for sure.

But she wasn't entirely blameless in the matter….

They didn't stick together when it mattered. That was the issue. Amongst others.

He recounts the lines down her throat, the freckles; all hidden moles and the way she smiles at him when he hits the spot _just_ right. _The way she snores, so very loud into his count Egyptian spread..._

He automatically flips the phone from his pocket. Speed dial number one ringing into his ear as he folds it around his ear.

"Dad. You around?" He asks into the receiver.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

His father; Gordon to most of his friends, and Jazz Sax musicians alike, lives about three hours up state, in Johnstown. Until coming back to the city, his father had been seeing more of Cass than _he_ ever did. It had rubbed him up the wrong way from the start. Not that he wanted that connection severed, but more of the fact that he alone had been severed from that very exclusive group. He now seemed to be the outsider.

An hour later and he's rounding the curb in his AC Cobra rental; beautiful little number with a pale sky blue finish and chrome interior; trying to get as little dirt on the vehicle as possible whilst driving it up to the house.

His father is out the front, pulling out weeds when he spots his son wandering up the driveway.

He observes the sparse neighbourhood around him. His Dad had decided long ago to move out, further from the city and into the 'hick'est part of the state. He had argued that the place had the kind of heart that New York had long forgotten. Every time he rambled on, Harvey would roll his eyes and accuse him of losing his edge to old age. Marcus usually backed his father up. _Always the pussy..._

"Well if it isn't my over achieving son?" He jokes, his voice a dry and rusty resemblance of Harvey's as he squints into the dwindling sunlight. "Didn't take you long?" His father observes, patting Harvey on the back. He's aged a lot in recent years. Still has all his hair, but it's almost white instead of it's old dusty blonde and cropped a little shorter than he used to wear it. Harvey smiles at his dress, still the same plaid shirt and jeans of his slightly younger jazz laden years.

"Hey. I could get you a gardener, you know?" He says, indicating the overgrowth at the front of the house, as it's swallowed into the amber of the evening light.

"Pssh. Keeps the ticker beating." He admonishes, waving him into the house as he heads off towards the kitchen.

He never could take Harvey's money. And it always irritated him. He wanted for nothing and his father always looked like he wanted for everything. His house is sparse, and slightly dated, save for a new widescreen that Harvey had gotten him a while back. His eyes catch at a photo on the mantelpiece. He picks it up, observing Donna's wide smile accompanying his own.

He remembers a barbecue. At his Dad's old place. _And a summer dress that he couldn't get out of his head until he could get it off of her…_

"Old times?" His Dad asks, passing him a tin of beer, as he places it back down, a tight smile. They both sit on the worn plaid sofas, his Dad in his usual spot, opposite the TV. He can't relax though; perching on the edge of the seat like he's at the dentist.

"So Harvey. What brings you out here?"

"What? I can't come visit my old Dad?" He accuses, with a wry smile. "Marcus never does." He throws in for good measure.

"Bull crap. He was down last week moaning about his mortgage. What's up?" He ask, sharing the smirk. They always could talk. About everything except that one thing...Two things, if you counted the current ongoing situation.

"Donna came back...to the city." He says, taking a sip of the slightly bitter alcohol; which slides with an icy sear down the inside of his throat.

"I know." His Dad smiles over his tin of beer.

"What do you mean you know?!" He remarks; that very Harvey-esque look of mock outrage.

"She told me, when she brought Cass over last." He explains.

"Right." He sighs to himself. _Typical that his own father be more in the loop about his own kid's whereabouts than he should be_. "Well, she's working at the firm."

His father laughs, nearly spitting out his beer. "Don't tell me she's your assistant again?" He asks, the disbelief etching his high cheekbones and grey-green eyes.

"Of course not!" He grumbles. rolling his eyes. "But things are...complicated."

"That can't possibly be. That woman is a saint." He says; silently challenging his son as he gives him a look.

He loved Donna from the start. It was hard not to, but he was charmed by her way passed the point that you should be about your daughter-in-law. Their split was a big blow to the family portrait dream that his father had pinned for since before he could remember.

"Not if I told you what was going on…"

"Let me guess. You're sleeping with her?" His father accuses in a similar tone.

"Well...actually, Dad, before you judge. She came to me, okay? And now I find out she's... seeing someone." He says, the distaste more about the words in his mouth than the cheap alcohol.

"Ouch. Well, I gotta say...I never thought she'd do that. Didn't think she was the type."

"It's early days with them," He clarifies. "But, she's decided she wants to...continue in that direction."

"Let me guess..._you _want continue where the two of you left off, huh?"

"What? No!" He frowns, snarling slightly at his father's rather crude interpretation of his agenda._ Like he's the problem here..._

"Listen to me, Harvey." Gordon says, sitting up as he finishes the remnants of his beer. "I've never seen you crazy about another woman like you were with her. And I know the two of you kept it hush, why you split up. But...if your Mother hadn't left me for another man outright; I'd sure as hell've done everything in my power to-"

"Dad," He interrupts. tiredly. _It's enough by then. It's the same story doubled over and over and he's sick of it. His Mother was...something else entirely._ "Not everything is about Mom, you know."

"What really happened between the two of you?" His father asks, his eyes narrowing.

"Dad," He warns, finishing his own beer. "It's...complicated."

"If you don't tell me; I can't help you."

He's never told a soul. She made him swear to the grave for the sake of both their reputations. 'An Amicable Split' they had called it. Everybody had questions, pieces of information. But nobody had no real answers."

"I...I thought I," The words are hard to process, he realizes.

"Son, spit it out or it'll choke you sooner or later." His father jokes, putting a little light into a seemingly awkward situation.

"I...fell in love with someone else." He says, blankly. "Or at least, I thought I had fallen back in love with someone else."

His father sits back for a moment, processing the bomb he's dropped.

It's not what he thought he would say. Until Donna, Harvey had ran himself through a ton of women to get to her; every preceding conquest lasted less and less time until even he wondered if Harvey had a problem with commitment._ Like his Mother._

Truth was, he was actually more like his Dad than either of them knew.

"Who was it?"

"Remember Scottie?" Harvey offers.

"_Scottie_?" His brow furrows for a moment. "Dana? That little brunette? Cute but a know it all."

He chuckles at his father's description. "That's about right."

"Didn't you date her for a couple of years? During school?"

"Yeah."

"So, you...slept with her?"

"No." Harvey winces. "Not whilst we were together."

"Right. So you...left Donna for this...Scottie? Really, Harvey?"

"No" He says defensively. "Donna left..._so that I could be with her_."

He sees it coming; the confused frown on his father's face.

_Years on, it still doesn't make sense. What either of them did._

_What they forgot to hold onto._

_How she could just..._

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

She gets let into the building by an old lady who should know better, as she smiles warmly in return. walking up a long flight of steps.

When she knocks on the white door...she feels a need.

Part of her wonders if she should even be here. And then she remembers the fact that _he_ is the only person that really knows…

And the one person that really shouldn't.

When the door opens, Rachel is all wide eyes and a following smile. She looks down to see a rather prominent bump. It's been a few weeks since they've met for dinner and she's growing with every passing minute, it seems.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" She asks warmly, pulling Donna down into a hug.

"I came to talk to you. And Mike...if he's in?" She asks, looking down the hall. "You're not busy?" She checks.

"Of course not, we just came back from shopping." She answers, beckoning her friend over the threshold.

She feels the whiff of an inquisition coming on as she sits opposite her two best friends. One of which is now her Boss; and the second in command to his Boss; her ex husband.

_It's a very convoluted group…_

"So," She starts, pulling in a narrow column of air as she looks at their expectant faces.

Mike's reads something; like he knows what's coming and hasn't decided on his stance on the matter. It makes her ten times more nervous and guilty than Rachel's baby-laden blanket stare…

"I'm...engaged to the guy I've been seeing." She says.

"Congratul-" She interrupts Rachel's singular celebration.

"But I've been sleeping with Harvey." She adds.

"Oh," She interrupts Rachel's changing expression.

"I ended it. With Harvey. And now I'm..._getting married_." She says, the limp rise in her voice falling flat.

No one interrupts this time. Mike's known for nearly two months. His reaction is key to her future on so many levels.

But she daren't look at Mike's face until he speaks. And she doesn't want to throw him under the bus.

"Does Harvey know?" Mike finally asks; the words teetering on the edge of accusation.

She feels a lump in her throat. "No. But...I'm going to...tell him. He knows it's serious. Just not _how_ serious."

"What about Cassie?" Rachel asks.

"She met David. But then she caught Harvey and I in bed, and got confused and started asking Harvey questions. And she tells him everything, so I haven't told her about the engagement, either. I wanted it to be...right first."

She watches her friends collectively watch each other's reaction.

"Okay…" Rachel says slowly. "_**Angel and the Devil**_. I'll be the Devil." She says to Mike, before constructively looking at her friend. "Tell him in a month. He knows that you're seeing someone, and you told him that you're investing in that, so it's not going to hit him in the face,"

"Except that it will." Mike says finally, bluntly.

She feels her stomach sink.

"Mike," Rachel tempers, looking to him.

"'Angel', remember?" He defends his position, despite the undertone of disapproval that Donna can smell a mile off. His eyes flick to her. "This is Harvey we're talking about. He loves you, you know that. And you're current situation is...easy. It's workable, for Cassie. But throw another man in the mix this early and who knows how it'll affect her."

"Affect her or affect him?" Donna fires at him.

"Well, I don't know how I'd feel about my baby being raised by someone that neither of us know, let alone even met yet. Come to think of it. None of us have." He points out sharply.

"Mike," She finds herself saying. The rest of the words stick in her throat like glue.

Rachel senses the air turning red, swooping in like the advocate. "Okay, good Angel. _But_… Harvey can't expect you to be single forever. It's been three years since you were together, and Cassie is not a baby any more. She's intelligent. She knows who her Dad is,"

"Yeah. A man that until four months ago, she barely had a chance to see. Now they have a bond. It's her father, and now that's going to be overshadowed by a man she doesn't know? God knows how she'll react!" Mike says, the pinker in his voice cracking the edges of his words as his temper rises.

"Why don't you just say it, Mike? You're siding with Harvey?" She fires, irritated at his clear loyalty to Harvey. _She wonders if Mike even knows why they broke up in the first place…_

"It doesn't matter who I side with Donna. Fact is, you're rushing into this." He argues.

"Mike,"

"You're gonna hurt him."

She can see it. That look in his eye. _His moral *fucking* compass..._ She wants to spit the words fraud at him, but it's too low a blow.

"What about me, huh? I'm just supposed to...be alone? A single mother?" She directs to him.

"Just...take your time. Why do you need to marry the guy right now?" He accuses.

_She's had enough. Mike has clearly chosen his stance on the matter. _

"I should go," She says, shuffling in her seat.

"No, Donna...stay." Rachel pleads, in between a rather disappointed look towards her agitated other half.

"No. I should...Cassie's at a party. I need to pick her up anyway." She gestures vaguely, standing as she slides her Marni purse onto her right shoulder.

She hears Rachel match her footsteps to the door.

"I'm sorry," She whispers to her, rolling her eyes.

"Don't worry about it." She shrugs, kissing her friend on the cheek. "I'll see you soon?"

"I'll talk to him." She says, squeezing her arm.

"No sweetie. It's fine. He's right." She half smiles, turning.

"Donna," She catches her, mid flee. She turns around to see the warm slightly cuddly looking support of a true friend. "Some advice you gave me once..._You deserve to be happy. Make that __**the most **__important thing. _And..._**screw the rest**_. Okay?"

She smiles then. _Motherhood is very becoming on her younger friend._ Even if she did encourage the thought in the first place.

She blows Rachel a kiss, before walking down the stairs.

She's resolute then. To be happy. To have that. On her own terms.

She deserves that much at least.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

Mike Ross.

"Look...Rachel….you don't...know, okay?" He fires at her, as she whips around with an acuteness he wasn't even aware that she possessed.

"_I don't know?_ **Our** friend just sat in front of us and told us, both of us, the situation here." She says, gesturing her annoyance.

"Rachel that's-"

"That's_ what_, Mike?" She says, eyes wide.

He sighs. _This is definitely his first fuck up, _he thinks.

"Donna is...omitting things."

"About?" She frowns, and he tries to linger on how cute her face looks right now.

"The engagement." He says. A weak explanation.

"Mike..._what did she say_?" She asks. _It never takes her long to catch on..._

"She...now, don't get mad...she got...engaged months ago."

"What?" Rachel frowns, the line in her forehead deepening. He nearly pauses the conversation there and then just to go and re-impregnate her...

"I caught her with the ring, okay?"

"But...wait," She double takes. "She only started dating the guy a couple of months ago."

"Quick proposal _or_…?" He insinuates.

Rachel's face falls; as his assumptions finally lines up parallel with hers. "_**Oh, Donna**_," She says then, shaking her head, her shoulders dropping at the thought.

"I...don't know what to do, Rach." He says, his hand wrapping around her waist.

"It's their problem Mike...we can't get in the middle of it." She tells him.

"But Harvey's…"

"**_I know._** Not to blame this time." She smiles then. It's odd and out of context of the conversation. "They always were more screwed up than us."

He smiles then, softening out a little as he leans towards her. "Yeah. I love you." He says.

"I love you too." She smiles back, accepting the kiss he gives her, and silently thanking both their lucky stars that they're not in that position.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

Lucky for Donna, things start moving into place.

Work is...difficult, but measured.

Harvey is...behaving. And nurturing to their daughter.

Home is...bubbling along nicely.

David is...the perfect waiting gentleman.

She's shopping, one Saturday afternoon on East 55th Street - David is busy, and they're due to meet later for dinner, after she drops Cass off. She spies some gowns in the window; **_Mark Ingram Atelier_**. It's one of the hottest bridal shops around these days. She had gone to Bergdorf's for her first wedding. Classic, elegant and well known; but Ingram had been topped in many circles as the current go to. And for this wedding she wanted something a little...different. A little out of the ordinary.

_Waldorf, Bergdorf's and Harry Winston have to be topped off somehow..._

She notices a gown, ivory and lace detail covering it's entirety. It's a Galia Lahav design, with clean lines and a mermaid style rippling to the floor in one wonderful frilly scoop cut skirt. She watches the dress as it turns on the pedestal, a very low v cut slicing through the back of it with a determination that she matches against herself.

That's it.

**_The dress._**

She doesn't even care what the price tag is…

It's the one.

_Her first wedding was innocence, chaste love and chiffon induced romanticism. _

Her second...will be sex and drama_ and just a little touch of dirty jazz…_

This wedding suddenly doesn't seem so hard to stomach after all.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO **

As always, feed the kitty!_ I'm going to bring David back into the mix now… AHHHHHH! :runsfortheproverbialhills:_


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes:**

Hello All! Muchos Thankos for the reviews. Great to read some in depth ones.

Now, Someone correctly pointed out that the timeline is vague.

With this Fic I didn't want to write the whole thing, otherwise it would all seem to be happening a little fast or take too long to get to events. So far we're up to four months. Perhaps I should have included David in a bit more to this point, as he's been around in the background tentatively meeting Cass since their first meeting.

My bad guys, that's the problem with a huge gap between writing. I'll amend that!

As for Donna making bad choices with regards to Cassie etc. Nothing is set in stone guys! I said it would be ride and that i would pull people about a bit. :evil smiley face:

It's been a rather productive one day off! A ~

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**CHAPTER EIGHT**

The first two months back in the city had been filled with gears changes, and moves and re-calibrating into a life she'd thought she'd left behind long a go. It had taken two months after that for things to settle; and she'd done everything in her power to juggle casual visits with David at the house; against Harvey and Cassie's flourishing father-daughter relationship, working for a silently disapproving Mike and occasionally have time to drink solo with a pregnant lady in tow.

Life wasn't perfect, but there was progress. And she never thought it would be easy for a second.

In fact, she had thought that with the rocky start and blurred lines that an improved state of affairs was far, _far_ ahead of them. But minus the obvious indiscretions on her part - a not so subtle drop backwards that could still bite her in the ass with vigour - a build to a much more harmonious future seemed nearer around the corner.

**_Trouble was, the moment you looked farther than the first few feet, something was always going to rear it's ugly head…_**

_If she was honest with herself, she was waiting for her to bring it up first._

"Why is David always here?" Cassie asks, a small yet deliberate frown as her large eyes look at her Mother's over the breakfast table.

"You don't like him?" She asks, and apologetic frown on her face as she perches on a bar stool next to her daughter.

"It's not that, just…he's not going to be my new Dad, is he?" She asks.

Donna smiles, trying to not to seem too patronising in front of such an honest observation. _Her daughter has always been a worrier._

"Sweetie. You're father is..._your father_. That's never going to change. Not ever." She says.

"But if another man lives here,"

"Well. We would have to talk about that. Now, wouldn't we?"

"Okay." She nods, looking down for a moment. "Can we...talk about it?" She asks her Mother.

"Sure. Ask me anything." She agrees, picking up her mug of coffee.

"Why doesn't he hang out with us?"

"Well...here's the thing. I didn't want to force you into having to spend time with him. If he were to move in, and live here, then we would be a family of sorts, but not like you have with your Dad. That would be a choice that you have to make." She explains.

"I don't get it." She says, ruffling her brow.

"Well. Let's say...if your Dad and I...were to get together again. We would automatically be a family, because I'm your Mom and your Dad is your Dad. But if say...David and I got married,"

"You're getting married?" She asks, her eyes wide at the whiff of new information.

"Wait a sec, lemme finish." She tells her daughter. "If we were, say, to get married, then it's your choice if you want us to be a family. I would be married to David, I would be his wife, but I wouldn't expect you to treat us as a family if you didn't want. Because the family would be...you and me. And you and your Dad. If you did want to spend time with David, and you felt comfortable enough with that, then that's a choice for you to make. But the most important thing to me is that you and your father are the closest that you can be. Does any of that make sense?"

She waits, her breath on a knife edge as she watches her daughter struggle with the information.

"Do you want to marry David, Mom?"

"I'm thinking about it. He has asked. I was just...thinking on it."

"Do you love him?"

"I do." She nods.

"Do you love Dad?" She asks then.

It's that kick in the gut that she thinks will always remain there. She puts on the best smile she can muster. "Of course sweetheart. He gave me _you_." She says, leaning over the counter top to ruffle her hair.

It's time, she realises.

Time for movement. Like troops on a bridge waiting for the signal to be let off down the hill.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

She catches him in his office. She's checked with Winnie. The day has been steady. No emergencies, no alarm bells.

It's the perfect opportunity. _Considering that Dinner is out of the question._

"Harvey?" She asks, knocking on the door frame as his eyes flick up from his desk. He gives her a blanket look; light and easy.

_He's in a good mood. _"Hey? Is everything okay?" He asks, his tone immediately turning to concerned.

If it were a more appropriate time she'd be chiding him for his over reaction and the possible images of Cassie in turmoil fleeting about his head.

"Fine." She insists, shutting the door before she glides towards him.

She picked her outfit out especially for this moment. Electric blue. Panelled. And just a _little_ cleavage. _She's not leaving anything to chance._

She glides to the couch, taking a seat, before patting the one beside her. "Sit down. I need to talk to you."

He looks at her then, catching on. "I'm already sat down." He counters.

She gives him a look and he frowns in defeat, sighing heavily to a stand as he wanders to the couch, slowly sitting next to her as he watches the seriousness creep into her face.

"What is it?" He asks, his head tilting to look at her.

"I am...getting married, Harvey." She says.

"What?" He blinks, the words washing far over his head.

"I know it's early, but I really like the guy and..._I'm engaged_." She says.

"Right. What is this like...the...eleventh time? Save for me." He half jokes, unperturbed by the information.

"No Harvey." She corrects, her voice careful. "This is the...second proper, time."

His face changes in a flash.

"Does Cassie know?" He asks.

"Yes." She nods.

"And…"

"I told her what I'm going to tell you. The most important thing is that your and Cassie's relationship doesn't change. You are her father and no man is going to replace that. That's not what this is about."

"What is it about, Donna? _Don't tell me you're in love with the guy_?" He argues, a slice in his words.

"I...am. I need a partner, Harvey. It's been three years. I need that somebody in my life now." She says, calmly standing her ground.

"I haven't even met the guy." He says then, his eyes flashing.

"Do you really think that's the best course of action? Considering what's happened?"

"Another reason to wonder why you would do this." He says, his nerve fraying slightly. "I don't even know the guy that's going to be around my daughter twenty four seven?"

"I know. That's why I'm telling you now, Harvey. First her. Then you. Then everybody."

He does something then.

Something she doesn't think he's ever done before.

Reason with her.

"Can't you just...take a sec. Take a year? See how it goes?" He asks, his voice tender against the frustration etching at his suddenly tired features.

"I found someone, Harvey. It's not off the bat. It's been a…" She wills herself to swallow. "Few months, and he's good guy. He's Lecturer. He's caring. He's good with Cass." She skips her words, interrupting him when she sees his mouth begin to open. "I've made it clear that the priority is not to replace you in any way in this. This is just about me. And having someone who's there. Who doesn't work at the firm. Who can help out with Cassie when we're both swamped at work and Mike and Rachel are tied up."

"I...I think it's...too early, Donna." He says, a lecture about his tone.

"It's not for you to judge that." She says then, her words hardening like candle wax. "I told you as a courtesy. So that you'll still be permanent in Cassie's life. _For her_." She tells him, trying to pushing reason into that stonewalled look painted on his face.

"Fine. Congratulations, then." He says, stalking out of the room.

She curses his ability to have a delayed feeling as he leaves there, watching his form disappear down the hall.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He heads straight for the Boxing ring. No amount of Alcohol can temper the frustration baring down with the weight that it had the moment she'd emptied out her picket fence life plan into his lap.

For a perceptive individual, she was sure as hell, tunnel vision selfish when she wanted to be.

And as always, it was hop on or hop off. No care or concern for those who didn't agree with her decision. And if you weren't involved then that was that.

He laughed, a bitter edge on his lip that he hoped would be replaced by blood, soon enough.

He was supposed to be the Boss. _I guess the backlashed rumours were true, _he thinks to himself, bashing his gloves together as his shoulders tighten.

He's like a shark. An eyeline straight for the guy now sliding into the ring.

He's going to enjoy this.

He's going to win.

And then he's going out tonight, and he's picking up the most beautiful woman that the city has to offer, and give her the_ night of her life…_

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Donna shuffles on the sidewalk; her hand held in David's as he looks down at her.

"You're nervous." He observes, a concerned look on his face.

"No," She defends. "Just...cold." She lies.

_She's extremely nervous._

These are the most important friends - save for her high school friend, and fellow Thespian Cathy Catrolla - in her entire life. Add to that, that they're also Harvey's friends, and their friends, and that makes for one unavoidably convoluted little dinner party.

She remembers when she had suggested it, over the phone to Rachel. She almost heard the sound of Mike objecting in the background.

And she knew that Mike was holding back his feelings. He had seemingly been his old self at work; joking and horsing around with her as usual in between the much more important role of Partner. But she could feel it in the air, whenever Harvey came to grab a file or touch base. That look Mike would give her when his back was turned.

She thanks her lucky stars that he wasn't invited tonight. And she knew that for a fact, because she'd single handedly dropped their daughter off at the condo no less than an hour ago.

The buzzer goes, and they make their ascent to the apartment. When the door opens, Rachel is all smiles and carefully protruding bump.

"Hi!" She says, pulling Donna into a hug, before catching a flash of her shoes. "Oh my god, those are amazing!" She exclaims, pointing to Donna's bronze peep toes.

"They're not too much?" She asks, wincing slightly. _She knows they're far too much for a dinner party, but she couldn't resist._

"Of course not." Rachel assures her, before turning pointedly - and much to Donna's concealed humour - rather robotically towards David. "And you must be...David. I'm Rachel!" She says warmly, moving forward to kiss him on the cheek. "It seems weird that I...got you two together and yet… I never met you!" She says, sheepishly.

He smiles coolly. "Of course, through uh…"

"Jenna!" They say in unison.

"Of course, Yeah. Wow...long time."

Rachel looks to Donna, perception flying about. "That means you've been dating longer than…"

Donna immediately feels the alarm bells ringing in her head, giving Rachel a quick look.

Rachel's words trail off when she catches it. "Nice to meet you anyway." She smiles

"Likewise. I've heard great things. I bought you a token...as a thank you. For tonight as well." He explains, shrugging slightly

"That's," She looks to Donna; a thankful smile falling onto her lips. "That's, very kind of you, David." She says.

She can tell in a second that Rachel's first impression of her fiancé is a good one; besides the rather clunky slip on information.

_**Her**__...fiancé..._

The use of the title, even in her head makes her stomach flip over twice and land with a splodge.

Rachel shakes her head suddenly. That bashfulness that Donna loves so much; now only amplified more by the tiny human growing inside of her. "Of course...come in, guys! Mike's in the...kitchen." She says, beckoning them over the threshold.

They move into the living room; David casually looking about the place. "This is a beautiful place you have here." He says, examining the clean white lines and striking photographs on the walls, with little trinket touches.

"Thank you. We're going to have to move soon." She says, indicating her stomach.

"Of course, I can't believe I missed it. Congratulations," David says, with a bashful smile, completely unaware of his own blunder.

For a second, Rachel's eyes stare wildly at them both, before Donna erupts into awkward laughter.

"I told him, Rach! He's not...saying you're fat." She says, squeezing her arm, as she too joins in a chuckle.

David interrupts, a slight splutter about him as he tries to pick up his words. "She told me...earlier. Honestly...you look radiant. Not...you know." He says sincerely, hearing Donna stifle the awkward laugh in her throat.

Rachel laughs, her nose pinkering then. "It's fine, honestly. It's obvious." She assures them, a slight giggle still lingering. "I just...haven't asked anybody yet...I was too scared to find out that I really am fat." She jokes.

"Rachel, you are _half_ the size I was." Donna cuts in. "Do you remember Cassie? She weighed nearly nine pounds!" Donna adds, looking between the two them.

"Oh my god. Yes! We used to joke that you were the wine cooler! You remember?" She adds, pointing to the wine, as Donna nods, laughing again.

_She's missed this. _These kind of nights. They were few and far in between even when she and Harvey were together. Mike and Harvey were always at work, trying to get to Partner, or close a deal, or running the front line of some takeover whilst Rachel was juggling the beginnings of school and work.

And she was left literally holding the baby.

_It all got so muddled in the end..._

Rachel places them both at the family dining table; an ornate glass and steel-looking design, with a pretty assortment of thick pink roses in a gold leaf bowl.

It's so very Rachel…

Mike arrives then, noticing Donna with a relaxed smile. "Hey," He says, bending over the chair to kiss her on the cheek as she turns to him.

"Hey You. What's cookin?" Donna asks, deliberately sniffing the air with a wry smile. "Nice apron, Martha Stewart." She jokes at him.

"You're gonna regret that when you find out what I'm cooking for you," Mike sings at her.

"What? What are you-What?" She says, her eyes wide as the rest of the table laugh.

"Your favourite." He divulges.

She mulls over the information, before the answer finds her. "No! You didn't!"

"Beef Wellington." He answers. "With spiced cabbage, sweet potato parcels and a cranberry jiu."

"Oh….you are _such_ a good son." She says, giving him an admiring look.

David frowns next to her, not quite catching on. She lays a hand on his arm. "Mike lost his parents when he was young, so when he came to the firm… we took care of him. And then his Grammy passed, so I became kind of like his surrogate Mom."

_She omits the part about Harvey being the father in that scenario..._

"Right." He nods, a small smile of understanding on his lips.

"A young mother, who sometimes acts like an older sister." Donna adds with a smirk.

"And some days, a younger sister." Rachel jokes with a smile as she pours the wine.

Mike steps towards David, a careful eye about him and a hand outstretched. "And Hi, by the way. I'm Mike. Mike Ross."

"Nice to meet you." He smiles back, shaking Mike's hand before a look of confusion and bashfulness escapes his face. "When we get married...I don't have call you son or anything do I?" He asks, a half joke but awkward about it.

The table laughs, as does Mike. "No, we're good here." He winks wandering into the kitchen again. "I'll be back. Get drunk!" He orders, walking back into the kitchen.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Meanwhile, a tired Father is roasting marshmallows on a barbecue he's never so much as unwrapped in well over ten years.

A little Red headed girl, expectant and swinging her legs under the chair waits, not sure impatiently for the 'magic' to happen…

"This is taking a while." She remarks, hugging her blanket around her.

"It's heating up. Patience." He says.

"Is the fire on?" She asks, looking back into the apartment.

"Just give it a second, Cass." He encourages, nudging her shoulder.

She sighs dramatically, her mouth forming into a pout. "Okay." She says, looking about herself.

"Hey," He nudges her one more. "What's up kid?"

Her eyes flick up to his for a moment, and then up to the sky, her shoulders rising and falling.

"Mom is getting married." She says, very matter of factly.

He feels heavy at the thought._ He should have expected this._

She is _his_ kid after all. He should have known he wasn't the only one to be against the idea. "I know." He says rather quietly, poking at the fire once more.

_Every day, his job as father is getting harder and more fraught with obstacles._

"Do you not...want your Mom to get married?" He asks then.

"It's not that...I suppose. I want her to be happy though."

"Well that's very adult of you. I'm impressed." He says, turning the marshmallows.

"What did you tell her?" She asks him.

"Me?" He asks, pointing to himself.

_He never used to be put on the spot by a five year old. Now it feels like common occurrence._

**_What do you tell an acutely smart five year old?_**

Most people would tell their children one of two things:

What they want to hear. Or what's best for them to hear.

_But she isn't most children._

So on this eve of more new moments between them...he does something he would least be prone to doing, out in the real world.

_He tells her the truth._

"I told your Mother...that I thought it was too soon."

He watches, as his little daughter's eyes light up at the information. "Now," He begins to backtrack; the whiff of a an obscure coup coming to the fore as he points at her for emphasis. "That's not to say that I don't respect your Mother's decision. Whether I agree with it or not, it's _not_ my place to interfere. I have to support her decision."

"Do you love Mom?" She asks then.

He's never been as lacking in a defence as he is around her. It's unnerving. Like she's this strange little Buddha and confidant; a private little honesty in his life.

"I do. Very much. But when you love someone, as much as it can hurt you; you have to honour their decisions on things."

"Why'd you break up?"

"Because...I let her down."

_He didn't fight for her. That...was the truth. He let her call the shots. Like always._

"Can't you make up for it?" She asks, hope clear and twanging in her little voice.

"Not now. It's been three years, Cass. Your Mom...deserves to be happy now. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I guess." She says, chewing her lip.

His eyes connect with hers, his arm lifting and gesturing towards her. "Come here." He says gently.

She lingers back for a moment, before walking towards him and nudging his side as he wraps an arm around her shoulder.

"Dad. You're burning them." She observes, leaning towards the barbecue with interested eyes and toes stretching.

"Crap," He mutters gruffly, grabbing the tongs.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The moment they leave the dinner, it's the first moment that Donna can really relax, as she hugs herself to David's side against the cool air of Manhattan as they walk the block.

It's a good night, all things considered. Both Rachel and Mike got along with David. David was his usual pleasant self. She wasn't really sure what she expected really. They always were the cordial type of couple, even when they were their previous foursome. It was only when you divide and conquered them that the walls started to break down and their individual selves started to show.

"So...what did you think of them?" Donna asks, a keen eye trained on the face of the man beside her.

"Rachel is charming. I like her. And Mike is..."

She can see by the way his face becomes even more polite, that there is a slight reservation there.

"Mike and Harvey are Best Friends." She explains. "It's not the easiest situation there." She adds.

"Oh. Right." He says, looking down. "So what do your friends think of you bringing another man into their life?"

"They understand that the situation is complicated. But they want me to be happy." She says.

_It's about as true an answer as it will ever be._

"If this is all moving too fast we can-"

She interrupts him before he can finish. "Eventually. things are going to have to change, David." She says pulling on his arm gently until he pauses mid stride. "I left Harvey three years ago for a reason. A good reason. Now it's time for me to move on." She says, her hand sliding up to plant a kiss on his lips.

It's chaste, and their lips are cool from the chilly slight wind whipping around them. His eyes examine her expression, his unruly dark blonde eyebrows knitting together before a decision fleets across his face.

"I think it's time...that I met your ex husband." He says.

OOOOOOOOOOO  
>OOOOOOOOOOO<p>

Thought I would leave it there for the chapter! A~


	9. Chapter 9

Notes: Thought I'd push a chapter before the 4.2 Premieres! A~

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Chapter 9

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_What I choose to do,_

_Is of no concern to you, Or your friends._

_Where I lay my head, may not be my home, _

_But I will last, _

_On my own,_

_Because it's me, _

_And my life, _

_It's my life_

_All the world to sit in the palm of my hand_

_Not that you'd see_

_And I'm tired and bored_

_Of waiting for you_

_And all those things_

_You never do_

_Cuz it's me,_

_And my life_

_It's my life…_

'_My Life' By Dido. _

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was inevitable. Of course it was.

It was just another step on the road of life.

A natural progression of hers...her life.

Except that it didn't feel that way. It didn't really feel that natural a step. If anything, it felt as if lights were blaring at her, sirens churning with a fog horn-like blare,

And all to warn her of some impending doom.

She tapped her foot all the way to the lobby, like a call to arms that followed in syncopation to the steady thumping in her chest.

She wills herself to his office, her shoulders set back, her posture alert.

She slides in between glass panels; a quick nod to his assistant on the way in.

The look on his face is already waiting, tied up with a merger she knows is going to keep him longer into the night than he wishes.

"Harvey," She starts, demonstratively.

"_Donna, I really don't have the time._" He says, looking blankly at her. "I'm busy." He reaffirms.

Her face crinkles, a flash of annoyance. "Harvey...I'm not your assistant anymore." She says, her toe tapping on the carpeted floor.

"You're right about that. She's sat outside my office. So do me a favour, and schedule a meeting with her on your way out." He says, shutting her down before looking back to his paperwork like a practised pro.

Before anything else can pass between them, the intercom turns on. "Mr Specter; Donna Paulsen's just arrived for a meeting."

He groans at the sound of Winnie's voice over the intercom. His eyes flash to her, her back straight and turned to her desk as she seems immersed in whatever's on her screen. Donna watches as he flashes to his computer, quickly clicking through his schedule.

She holds back the laugh in her throat as his face flattens out; reading the information set there.

"Winnie...you're fired." He says flatly into the intercom.

She turns to wink thankfully at his assistant, who unblemished, goes back to her work. When she turns back to him with a rueful smile he's deliberately glaring at her.

"I guess you should..._take a seat_." He says ironically.

_He's been like this lately._ Never around Cassie. But at work..._untouchable. Vacant._ Seldom at Mike's office, and more often than not Mike is summoned to his, cutting her out completely. She talks with his assistant more than she does with him.

Now,

She isn't going to feel bad for moving on,

But she feels that disconnect more than she expected to.

She softens, looking at him in the way that she does, hoping that it'll pierce the seemingly impervious shield he's wearing.

"I uh...needed to ask you to...do something. For me." She says carefully.

His face changes in a flash, and she can't help but smile. "Not about Cassie." She chides, rolling her eyes.

_It's amazing how he can turn from arrogant hotshot head of a law firm to concerned Dad of the Year in approximately 1.2 seconds..._

He gives her a look, half rolling his own eyes. "Donna. What do you want?" He asks, softening slightly.

"David...my fiance; wants to… meet you." She says, glazing over the words.

_There's also something to be said for how quickly his face changes at the mere mention of__** that**__, too...and in__** far**__ less time._

In a moment he's already shared his opinion of her situation and then weighed up the positives of her proposal.

He had previously voiced his disapproval of having not met a man who his daughter had already met, so she assumed he would begrudgingly accept.

How the meeting would go though...of that she was very unsure of.

"Fine. Get him to drop by." He says simply; his eyes connecting once again with his paperwork; a triviality about his manner.

"Not here," She fires back.

"Why not?" He shrugs, gestures, sitting back in his chair and immediately taking on a smug expression.

"Because," She says, leaning in. "If he comes here, to your domain, then you'll be able to just treat him how you treat the competitor of the latest takeover - Like an asshole." She points to him.

David's no pushover, but she's not about to let her ex-husband - who is already vocally against the situation - bait her fiance into a position where he would be vulnerable under attack.

"Being an asshole's gotten me where I am today." He defends, sitting up a little straighter..

_She struggles not to say 'Nearly fifty, divorced and alone'..._

Instead she says: "Yes, Harvey. It's also given you the reputation of being a dick." She remarks, huffing. "Look, he wants to meet you, out of respect. He thinks that he's stepping on your toes-"

"He's not wrong." Harvey shrugs bullishly.

"You're kidding me, right?" She fires at him; the shock in her face.

She's torn between the outrage towards him, still typical in his notion that she's property, or his, like some kind of possession; and all the same shamed by the fact that she _is _stepping on his toes. That she's invading his life with a man who could potentially take over everything that _was_ his.

_And then she remembers being alone with Cassie and it trumps everything and above..._

His expression stutters, his head shaking. "I mean...with Cassie." He backtracks.

"Really? Bullshitting me?" She counters. "Look...just do me this favour, meet him once. Then...you don't have to have another conversation with him until Cassie graduates. I guarantee it. But at least you'll know him, he'll know you and it can settle his mind about the person that you are-were, in my life."

She sees just a question of it, in his day of playing skywriter with his emotions on a blustery day.

That fraction worth of a question.

She doesn't push it. She doesn't want to know what the question is. Some how she already knows.

_She doesn't even want to categorize what Harvey Specter means in his life. What he is. _

_What they-._

"Okay." He nods reluctantly, cutting the air of her thought. "Set it up." He says, the odd sound of defeat in his words as he slowly picks up the paperwork in his hands.

She's left hanging slightly; as if she hadn't meant for him to cave quite as quickly. "Okay." She parrots, moving to stand, her hands sliding down the pleats of her skirt in habit.

And it's done. It's set.

_Bring on the spectacle..._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_His lips slide across her inner thigh and when she lets out that moan of pleasure he pauses to laugh into the almost darkness, before letting her hands sliding into his hair. And then his lips reach that other perfect spot and suddenly she's never wanted him inside her as much as she does right now; and if anyone were to walk in she'd have to ignore them just to let him continue. She arches against him, letting out a strangled murmur as a flush courses over her body like a dryer-warmed curtain of sheer-_

She sits up like a guns gone off, sweating and hot and a pressure in her eyes that stings.

She's thankful that she's alone in the bed, as she pants to control her breath.

And it's that impulse again.

That one she said she'd stay away from.

So she tells herself that it's natural...that she opened that cookie jar and now it's just...there. Staring at her.

The irrational idea of grabbing her child, hailing a cab and getting that damn elevator fleets awkwardly through her head.

_She really is the more fucked up one out of the two of them, _she thinks, as she flips heavily onto her side, huffing at the unrest inside her.

It's ridiculous.

She thinks of a thousand reasons why she would be thinking of him. Wedding jitters. That need to find the exact opposite of what she really wants.

None of them help her through the rest of the night.

And even after two coffees and a bowl of cereal, that itch is still going strong.

Still unscratchable.

Lingering.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Everything is changing,_

_And I've been here for too long_

_Going through the same things_

_I've been hurting too long,_

_Got to move on_

_Say I-I-I-I can't do this anymore_

_If everything is changing_

_And I know, yeah, you gotta let go_

Sigma/Paloma Faith 'Changing'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He gets a drink in at the bar before the table is available; the glass barely dancing on the bar before he throws it back.

He spots a leggy brunette holding solo on a table about twelve feet.

Visibly Late Twenties.

Demure.

_Tempting…_

His eyes connect with hers; a shy smile turning confident as she deliberately winks at him. _The all clear…_

He starts to swagger towards her, his hands in his pockets and a little returning smile that he holds back just enough, so that when he _does_ talk-

"Harvey Specter?"

A man's face flashes in front of him. Taller. Blonde. Lost looking expression. Man-Freckles.

He halts, back straightening, a bluntness waiting on his tongue.

"I'm David Wright," The man says, a pleasantness about him as he extends his hands. "Donna's fiance. "He explains."

His feet suddenly weigh down; a groan in his throat.

He side steps the guy; reaching the brunette and revealing a business card with a practised flick of the wrist.

"Call me." He says, winking at her, before looking back at the man clearly waiting for him. "Shall we?" He says gruffly, walking to the hostess to find their table.

He can't help it. This guy is…._a douche_. A nice, well-to-do….douche.

He makes Harvey look like Harvey a blip in a very long line of...douches.

"So," David begins, straightening in his seat. "I asked for this meeting; as we've not managed to meet; until this point." He smiles bashfully.

"Shrewd." Harvey remarks, sipping his drink.

"And you're going to be a common person in Donna's life; you're Cassie's father, and I didn't want the issue to be avoided..as such." He smiles.

"It's unavoidable. So...what now?" Harvey asks, his hands flicking out at the wrist as he sits back.

"Well. I know nothing about you. You know nothing about me." David examines.

"You're David Wright. Forty Two. Lecturer at Columbia. No priors. You live in The Village…" He reams off.

He watches the man's face blanch. "So...you had me investigated. Right." He nods, a strange look on his face as he laughs to himself. "And you're...a lawyer?"

"Managing Partner of Specter Ross; actually." He says smugly. "Need to do your homework." He adds.

"Look, Harvey, may I call you Harvey?" The man stumbles slightly; a well-to-do frown on his face.

His eyebrow twitches at the man's question, watching as David's face crinkles in suspicion.

"I know it's not the simplest of situations. God knows I feel like I'm treading on some toes here." He says, a sincerity about his voice.

It's a shame Harvey Specter's a cynic.

"I think it's pretty simple, David. You're marrying my ex wife. You're around my child. Now," He leans in. "You seem...straight down the line. A clean, if not humble looking suit. Good manner, good temper. That's all I really need to know. And as long as you treat my daughter with respect then..._we_ have...no problem here." He says coolly.

In all honesty he'd been trying to avoid this meeting. He knew had to meet the guy eventually. And despite his dislike of the matter he has no grounds here. The guy checks out. He seems fine, if not a less than substantial choice for a second husband.

"Right." The man says, letting out a breath of relief as he looks around. "That's good… I'm glad you approve-" He says.

Harvey's voice interrupts like a side note. "I didn't say I approved." He adds, beginning to stand.

"Oh I,"

"I have work to get back to. Have some dinner on me." He remarks, throwing two fifties down on the table.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"And he just...left?" Donna indicates, unpacking the groceries as David leans on a bar stool.

"He offered to pay my dinner." He says. "Two fifties thrown down like it was pocket money." He remarks. "I gave the hostess the tip." He explains with a proud smile.

She groans, the image of Harvey in all his glory throws a bad taste in her mouth. "What an asshole." She says, turning to David. "I'm sorry. He...said_ we_ were moving too fast."

"Yes; he told me as much." He sighs. "Do _you_ think….we're moving too fast?"

She can hear the hopefulness in his voice...

"No, of course not." She answers hurriedly. "And _I t_old Harvey to mind his own business. **We **are the only ones who get to decide on the pace of _our_ relationship." She placates, opening and closing cupboards in the process. "Not my ex-husband." She reaffirms.

"Okay." He agrees, nodding. "I'm sorry it didn't go as I'd planned."

"When Harvey's involved it either goes two ways; his way _or_ to complete shit." She says, moving towards him with a disarming smile. "_Now_. What kind of comfort food does this minor chink in the armour deserve?" She asks, draping her arms on his slumped shoulders; his greying eyes moving up to look to her, a thoughtfully boyish expression in them.

"Hmm. Something Italian?" He offers.

She bends down, kissing him soundly. "Italian sounds perfect."

"_Italian sounds perfect.", Harvey says, draping his coat off of his shoulders, as he hangs it up by the door. _

_She's waiting, a reserved expression on her face and a glass of wine in her hand as she watches him wander over to their little girl, bending down to pick her up; an interested look on his face as he watches his little two year old stare at him with similar eyes. _

_She's thankful that she's two glasses in already; her stomach feeling the weight of heavy alcohol. _

_In all honesty, she's not sure she could do this sober. "Harvey, leave Cass a sec." She says. "I need to talk to you." Her voice is monotone as she hurries another glass down her throat. _

_He frowns immediately, kissing their daughter before sliding her back into the playpen._

_They'd gotten into a habit of putting her in the pen whenever Donna cooked. After a near accident involving an innocent spatula of pasta, she'd deemed open plan kitchens as the most dangerous place for a Specter/Paulsen child. _

_She watches him sit next to her, sitting forward on his knees, as he looks at her. _

_It's a defensive posture. Like he knows what's coming._

"_What is it?" He asks, somewhat quietly. _

"_I've been thinking. Since the fight,"_

"_...Okay," He says carefully; his darkened eyes watching her. Waiting for her to reveal._

"_I don't want to be married to someone who's not here half the time." She says. _

_It's quicker off of the tongue than he'd expected it to be._

"_Donna, we talked about this," He starts, sitting forward._

"_Yeah...well; I wasn't happy with the conclusion that we came to last time."_

"_Donna," His head tilts, his face trying to work her out._

"_You'd rather be there, at the firm, with her...than here with your daughter."_

"_That's not true." He says deftly._

"_I saw you Harvey."_

"_Saw what?" He asks, a sudden sharpness in his eyes. _

"_The way you are with her. With Scottie."_

"_Donna, we've known each other a ….very long time,"_

"_She's in love with you, Harvey." She says, her eyes widening at the fact._

"_She knows I'm married."_

"_Do you?" The indignation peels like an overripe banana; the liquid courage in her baiting the words._

_He spikes then, moving to stand. "Oh, no! Do NOT imply what I think you're implying."_

"_Harvey, I know you would never cheat on me. Not intentionally. Look," She says, joining him to stand. "I know you took her to the benefit, Harvey! I know she pressed you on your relationship with me, and how you feel about her."_

"_What? You've been spying on me?" He says, looking wounded._

"_Rachel-saw you." She says, her face controlled even as the words come out in jagged sounds._

"_Did Rachel hear the answers to my questions as well?" He fires at her bitterly, his hands sliding on to his hips._

"_Harvey...you love her. I know you do." She pleads the words. It's unnatural and out of place. "I can feel it in you."_

"_Bullshit...How? How do you know?" He barely restrains the volume in his voice._

"_Because, __**I know you**__. And you were with her once."_

"_It didn't work. We didn't work." He says tiredly._

"_You were different people back then. And we're not…" She gestures between the both of them._

"_Not what?"_

"_We're not...happy."_

"_We're not happy or you're not happy?"_

"_Fine!" She says gesturing, all the cool she has left in her stripped away with one work. "__**I'm**__ not happy. I'm alone...fifteen hours a day!"_

"_I can't do anything about that, Donna, you __**know**__ that."_

"_That...is a fucking lie, Harvey!" She spits at him. "You CHOOSE to do nothing about it You CHOOSE to NOT be here FOR US!"_

"_So, what now?" He asks flippantly, wiping his lip as if the words cut as much as they feel like they do._

"_Now I'm… choosing for us." She says, her eyes boring into his. "Cass and I are...going to my parents for a few weeks." She says, speaking over his objections. "You, meanwhile; need to figure out what you and Scottie might still be." She says, restricting the breath. "Because__** I **__can handle being at the bottom of the pile; but our little girl doesn't deserve that." She says, stalking into the bedroom._

_He's confused, and fixed to the spot long before she's up and left, still balancing the weight of her words in his foggy head. _

_He wants to stop her; the physical impulse flaring up inside him as he watches his little girl disappear behind the front door in the arms of the woman he...loves. _

_He's lost. And she's right. And he hates the fact. Because he can't see a way out it._

_And dinner - just for him - sits in the fridge for a week, before he's brave enough to toss it in the trash._

_He doesn't eat Italian for a year._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_So_, I couldn't count on you to _not_ be a dick for...one lunch?!" He hears the words as red flashes past his eyes, momentarily blurring his vision. He double stakes before slamming the door behind them both.

She whips around, waiting for him to follow down the hall as she stands, in what he has to admire are the highest heels he's ever seen on a lady.

For a moment, he reserves his words to wonder exactly where Cassie is; the bile of possibility searing the bottom of his stomach.

"Where's our Daughter?" He asks finally, his soft-edged eyes sharpening at her for an answer.

"At Mike's and don't change the subject. Harvey! I asked you to do ONE thing! And you couldn't even do that. For me? _Really_?" She accuses with a huff.

"What did you expect from me, Donna? I met him. What more do you want?" He asks irritably.

"You could have at least attempted to give a shit about trying to get to know the guy first!" She gestures, walking to the refrigerator.

_His _refrigerator.

"That's _my_," He indicates to her, the words falling flat as he watches her; the audacity of her actions as she ham fistedly grabs the wine out of his fridge, and collects a glass from where they've always been.

"_**What the hell are you**_? That's not for me! _Or _You." He calls to her with a growing outrage.

She pauses for a moment, giving him a look. "Oh come on, Harvey. Women don't come to your apartment to drink wine…do they?" She says; the sharp insinuation reaching all the way to her toes.

He finds himself smirking at the jibe. Relaxing.

_Touche…_

It's hard not to enjoy a beautiful woman like her acting up like this; despite how annoyingly accurate she can be.

"Look._ I'm _not marrying the guy. And...he's solid, okay? If not a bit of a pussy." He remarks, offhandedly.

"Yeah; he didn't leave out the fact that you had him checked out.." She retorts, snorting as she uncorks the wine; much to his look of complete shock.

He should have expected it. _She never could leave it in the Fridge for five minutes..._

His fingers pinch at the bridge of his nose, the pressure building there as he closes his eyes, willing the release of it. "He's going to be watching my daughter, Donna. You know I had to check. And you'll be happy to know he's clean, by the way. Squeaky clean. It's..._nauseating_." He remarks tiredly, before his own urge for a drink flares up.

"Don't you think I knew that by judgement alone?" She asks, her nostrils flaring as she finishes the rather large glass in her hand. "Do you not trust me?" She asks; shaking her head at the erroneousness of the question. "Because the last time I checked; our daughter had all her fingers, all her toes and-"

"Donna…" The word falls out, natural and filled with subtext behind it. He lets it linger, searching for a rational thought. "Of course I do." He huffs. "I'm…" The words stretches for the breath of a mile as he walks around to meet her by her side of the counter.

Her eyes grow less impressed by the second.

"...sorry. _I'm Sorry_." He says finally, his hands flapping at their sides to make the point. He snatches the wine out of her hands then, restraining a pointed smile.

It's _so _easy to be like this. _To play, _he thinks. Even through the discord.

_They always did have__** great **__chemistry... _

He knows _it's_ still there, bubbling away under the surface like a fissure in lava rock as he watches her; gently opening and shutting the cupboard she's lent against; in one fluid motion, her long fingers revealing a glass that she hands to him with a tight, if not slightly disapproving smile, watching him right back as he slowly fills it; popping the bottle on the island behind him.

They stand there, on their opposite sides for a while, quietly drinking their wine. It's tenuous and filled with so much unsaid and said all so vague.

"Harvey..." She says, cutting the silence. "I know that things between us have been..."

"Horizontal?"

"I was going to say messy, but...that too. And I don't expect_ you_ to just jump into bed with the guy but…" Her eyes square on him at this. "I'm going to marry him. And I need to know that you can at least put aside your opinion for the sake of...harmony."

"Harmony?"

"With Cassie. And the situation. You know...harmony?" She emphasises, sipping her wine.

"You really are an impressive dork." He says to her, smiling.

"Is that a yes…?" She asks, finishing the wine.

"I'll be there… for Cassie." He says, watching her gradually take in every word.

After a time she nods.

He tries not to count the questions lingering in her catching eyes.

"You should...go…" He infers finally, tenderly nodding to the door, clearing his throat when she jumps into action.

His interest peaks slightly when he sees her walk towards him; before she rounds his form and picks up the wine instead.

"You can't be serious?" He asks, an accusing look following the path of her exit.

She pauses at the start of the hallway. "The least you owe me, is a drink." She remarks, disappearing.

He shakes his head; wandering to the sofa only to drop heavily onto it, as a calm enters the apartment.

He realises then, smiling oddly to himself.

That he has...no clue.

Of anything in his life,

Accept for the knowledge,

That she is a lingering pain in his ass.

And that he loves it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_One night to be confused_

_One night to speed up truth_

_We had a promise made_

_Four hands and then away_

_Both under influence_

_We had divine scent_

_To know what to say_

_Mind is a razor blade_

_To call for hands of above_

_To lean on_

_Wouldn't be good enough_

_For me, no_

_One night of magic rush_

_The start a simple touch_

_One night to push and scream_

_And then relief_

_Ten days of perfect tunes_

_The colors red and blue_

_We had a promise made_

_We were in love_

_**Heartbeats**__ - 'Jose Gonzales'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Okay, going to bring back the people! As always, feed the kitty! XxX Atheniandream (Redwineonavanillaskye Tumblr)


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